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Ecologists have long puzzled over a stand of swamp cedars in eastern Nevada's Spring Valley. “This endemic growth of Rocky Mountain junipers, or swamp cedars, should be at 8,000 feet or above elevation. These are growing at 5,000 feet,” says Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. “Wrong elevation, wrong soil, complete wrong habitat. No one understands why they grew here, nor how they continue to survive.”
Native American tribal members have long viewed the valley as sacred, holding ceremonies to commemorate three 19th century massacres that decimated the Western Shoshone, including two committed by the U.S. Army. “Swamp cedars in the Spring Valley embody the spirits of the lives lost during those massacres," said Ely Shoshone elder Delaine Spilsbury. "Our relatives are in those trees.” Now, members of the Duckwater, Ely, and Goshute tribes are asking the Biden administration to protect Spring Valley—also known as Bahsahwahbee—as a national monument.
The proposed protections come as Spring Valley is facing increased pressure from major water users in southern Nevada, who have long sought to siphon water from the region and send it to Las Vegas. Water pipelines could have a devastating impact on the swamp cedars, lowering the water table and depleting aquifers that support them.
Efforts to protect Spring Valley have gained steam. Earlier this year, Nevada's governor signed a law making it illegal for people to destroy swamp cedars without state permits, and the Nevada Legislature passed a resolution urging Congress to protect the evergreens by creating a national monument or adding the region to Great Basin National Park. Now, it's up to Congress and President Biden to act.
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They think the mines will last forever, but our whole future is changing when it comes to energy, with electric cars, solar farms, windmills and whatnot. People are looking towards the future, and coal isn’t really in it.”
