By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

Millions of acres are charred by wildfire. Millions more covered by invading grass. Elsewhere, pinyon-juniper trees are creeping downhill, overrunning a landscape that should be dominated by sagebrush.

Nevada’s rangeland, simply put, is in trouble.

“We’ve got some pretty big problems on the range,” said Lee Turner, a habitat specialist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Turner is heading up a new state program to restore Nevada’s range, crucial to ranchers and as habitat for wildlife.

Born as part of the “war on cheatgrass” declared in 2007 by Gov. Jim Gibbons and the governors of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, the Nevada Partners for Conservation and Development program is designed to build on plans already developed by federal land managers and to achieve large-scale restoration of both public and privately owned range.

“There are a lot of planning efforts out there,” Turner said. “We’re a group that’s going to put projects on the ground.”

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