TS Wildlife and Habitat

On the TS Ranch, we place major emphasis on the preservation and enhancement of our wildlife and its habitat. Over the years, we have accumulated many success stories.

Mule Deer Habitat Reclamation

The Dunphy Hills, located along I-80 in the southern end of Boulder Valley, is a major wintering ground for Northern Nevada's Area 6 Mule Deer herd. In 1985, this winter range was destroyed by wildfire and grew back into cheatgrass, which has very little feed value for wildlife or livestock.

The winter of 1992-1993 was severe, with deep snow and sub-zero temperatures. With the browse gone from the winter range, the 2,500 to 3,000 mule deer wintering there suffered greatly. It is estimated that by spring, in excess of 2,000 deer had parished on Dunphy Hills wintering ground.

In 1993, parent company Newmont Mining Corp joined the TS Ranch in the restoration of the Dunphy Hills mule deer wintering range. Over the past ten years, in a cooperative effort between Newmont Mining, the Nevada Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management and the TS Ranch, over 8,000 acres of critical mule deer habitat has been restored at a cost of over three quarters of a million dollars.

Today, an estimated 1,000 mule deer winter in the Dunphy Hills. Wildlife biologists have noted a higher survival rate on the Dunphy Hills than anywhere else in the management area. The range improvements may not be the only reason for the increased survivability, but they sure help. The Division of Wildlife expects the herd to number 3,000 to 3,500 in future years.

In 1998, Newmont received the much-coveted Excellence In Mine Reclamation Award for their part in this habitat restoration project.

Located in the northern portion of the TS Ranch are Coyote and Jack Creeks, home to the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. The Lahontan cutthroat is not only the Nevada State Fish, but is federally listed as an endangered species.

A hundred years of unsound grazing practices, drought, and violent spring run-offs had caused extreme damage to many streams and riparian areas on the ranch, including Coyote Creek and Maggie Creek.

In 1994, as part of a mine mitigation project, Newmont Mining Corp. joined forces with the TS Ranch in developing a Watershed Restoration Project within the Maggie Creek drainage. Working with federal and state agencies, the project was designed to enhance and protect over 2,000 acres of riparian habitat, 40,000 acres of upland watershed and 82 miles on stream channel.

Through fencing, water development and improved grazing practices, the recovery of this watershed has been tremendous.

Stream banks are stabilizing with increased vegetation of willows, sedges and grass, shading the stream and keeping it cool during the summer months. Trapped sediments have formed bars, causing the stream to meander and develop deep pools. The endangered Lahontan Cutthroat Trout are now thriving in this improved environment.

The Dunphy Hills and the Maggie Creek Watershed Restoration projects are just two habitat and wildlife success stories that we have to tell.

With Newmont as a partner, our habitat and its wildlife population continues to grow and improve. Over the years, thousands of willows and hundreds of trees have been planted by local volunteers and school children. Hundreds of acres of wetlands have been developed providing habitat to waterfowl, shore birds and other wildlife. Thousands of upland birds have been released, to include pheasants, chaukar, California Valley quail and wild turkey.

In 1992, less than 25 Pronghorn Antelope could be found on the entire TS Ranch. In a census conducted in January 2002, just ten years later, over 500 antelope were counted in Boulder Valley!

Several years ago a bull moose was spotted in our summer country along the upper reaches of Coyote Creek. He was spotted a second time, two years later, on our alfalfa pivots in Boulder Valley.

What made this wandering mammal of the north leave the lilley ponds of Idaho for the sagebrush hills of Northern Nevada is unknown.

Today, we just tell people that our range and habitat is in such good condition, that the "moose are leaving Idaho and migrating to the TS Ranch." And we have the pictures to prove it!

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