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Research about Lassen County, Washoe County, California, Nevada

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Lassen County, Washoe County, California, Nevada.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2022

Maladaptive nest-site selection and reduced nest survival in female sage-grouse following wildfire

Increased wildfire frequency and associated replacement of sagebrush ( Artemisia spp.) with invasive annual grasses contribute to declines of greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ; hereafter, sage-grouse) populations across the Great Basin. However, little is known about wildfire effects on sage-grouse nest-site selection and nest survival, which can influence population persistence. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Rush Fire on sage-grouse nest survival using before (2007–2009) and after (2015–2018) data collected from a population of sage-grouse occupying the border of northeastern California and northwestern Nevada. We employed a before–after–control–impact (BACI) experimental design to account for spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the system and to derive estimates of relative change in survival parameters. Sage-grouse nest survival decreased after the Rush Fire but decreased more in the burned area relative to the unburned area. Although female sage-grouse continued to occupy burned areas, nest survival was reduced from 52% to 19%. Using a BACI ratio approach we found that nest survival decreased approximately 51% in the burned area, relative to the unburned area, following wildfire. Habitat analyses were restricted to the postfire period and found that female sage-grouse that nested within unburned areas selected for wider nesting substrate, taller perennial grass height, and greater low sagebrush canopy cover. Conversely, female sage-grouse that nested in burned areas used shorter sagebrush canopy cover than what was available across the entire study area but showed stronger selection for perennial grass height than their unburned counterparts. Strong nest-site fidelity in sage-grouse may explain the continued use of suboptimal habitat in wildfire-altered landscapes, resulting in a reproductive cost, and overall reproduction well below replacement rate. Results suggest that fire suppression or rapid postfire habitat restoration, especially within nesting habitat, may be essential to conserving robust sage-grouse populations into the future.

California, Nevada↗
USGS2021

Large-scale wildfire reduces population growth in a peripheral population of sage-grouse

Drastic increases in wildfire size and frequency threaten western North American sagebrush ( Artemisia L. spp.) ecosystems. At relatively large spatial scales, wildfire facilitates type conversion of sagebrush-dominated plant communities to monocultures of invasive annual grasses ( e.g., Bromus tectorum L.). Annual grasses provide fine fuels that promote fire spread, contributing to a positive grass–fire feedback cycle that affects most sagebrush ecosystems, with expected habitat loss for resident wildlife populations. Greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus Bonaparte, 1827) are sagebrush obligate species that are indicators of sagebrush ecosystem function because they rely on different components of sagebrush ecosystems to meet seasonal life history needs. Because wildfire cannot be predicted, chronic impacts of wildfire on sage-grouse populations have been largely limited to correlative studies. Thus, evidence from well-designed experiments is needed to understand the specific mechanisms by which wildfire is detrimental to sage-grouse population dynamics.

California, Nevada↗
USGS1990

Surface-water hydrology of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

Honey Lake Valley straddles the state line of California and Nevada, about 35 miles north of Reno; about three-fourths of the area is in California. In this report, Honey Lake Valley (also referred to as the "basin") includes the entire area within the hydrographic boundary (fig. 1). Susanville, Calif., in the northwest part of the basin, is the largest town. Population is increasing rapidly both in the Susanville area and in the Reno area of adjacent Washoe County, Nev. Both Lassen and Washoe Counties have identified water resources in Honey Lake Valley as a possible source to meet their needs for future development. An important component of an assessment of the availability of additional long-term supply is an appraisal of surface-water resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the California Department of Water Resources and the Nevada Division of Water Resources, began a hydrologic assessment of the area in 1987. The study was primarily an appraisal of ground-water resources, but it also included an assessment of surface-water resources. The purpose of this map report is to present the results of the surface-water assessment, including (1) a broad overview of surface-water conditions in the basin, (2) an estimate of mean annual streamflow to the valley floor, and (3) an evaluation of the characteristics of Honey Lake. This report will be republished by the U.S. Geological Survey as a Hydrologic-Investigations Atlas. Results of this study related to ground-water resources of the basin are discussed in a separate report (Handman and others, 1990) and are summarized in a short "Water Fact Sheet" by Handman (1990).

California, Nevada↗
USGS1990

Ground-water resources of Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

Honey Lake Valley is a 2,200 sq-mi, topographically closed basin about 35 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. Unconsolidated basin-fill deposits on the valley floor and fractured volcanic rocks in northern and eastern uplands are the principal aquifers. In the study area, about 130,000 acre- ft of water recharges the aquifer system annually, about 40% by direct infiltration of precipitation and about 60% by infiltration of streamflow and irrigation water. Balancing this is an equal amount of groundwater discharge, of which about 65% evaporates from the water table or is transpired by phreatophytes, about 30 % is withdrawn from wells, and about 5% leaves the basin as subsurface outflow to the east. Results of a groundwater flow model of the eastern part of the basin, where withdrawals for public supply have been proposed, indicate that if 15,000 acre-ft of water were withdrawn annually, a new equilibrium would eventually be established by a reduction of about 60% in both evapotranspiration and subsurface outflow to the east. Hydrologic effects would be minimal at the western boundary of the flow-model area. Within the modeled area, the increased withdrawals cause an increase in the simulated net flow of groundwater eastward across the California-Nevada State line from about 670 acre-ft/yr to about 2,300 acre-ft/yr. (USGS)

California, Nevada↗
USGS1987

Analytical results and sample locality map of stream-sediment, heavy mineral-concentrate, rock, and water samples from the Skedaddle (CA-020- 612) and Dry Valley Rim (CA-020-615) Wilderness Study Areas, Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada

In the summer of 1985, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a reconnaissance geochemical survey of the Skedaddle (CA-020-612) and Dry Valley Rim (CA-020-615) Wilderness Study Areas in Lassen County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada. Skedaddle and Dry Valley Rim are contiguous wilderness study areas (WSA) located in the eastern part of the Modoc Plateau in Lassen County, northeastern California, and Washoe County, northwestern Nevada (fig. 1). The Skedaddle study area encompasses 39,420 acres and the Dry Valley Rim study area encompasses 54,480 acres of Bureau of Land Management administered public land about 25 mi east of Susanville, California. The Skedaddle study area is bounded on the east by the Skedaddle road, on the north by the Smoke Creek Road, on the south by the Wendel road, and on the west by the rim west of Wendel Canyon. The Dry Valley Rim study area is bounded on the east by the lower Smoke Creek road, the Dry Valley road, and the Pipe Springs Road. The northern boundary is the Smoke Creek Ranch road, the southern boundary the Wendel road, and the western boundary the east-side Skedaddle road. Access to the study areas is provided by several light-duty dirt roads and ways that join the boundary roads. Elevations range from 3,800 (1158 m) to 7,552 ft (2302 m). Steep rim rock walls and talus-covered canyons are common in the eastern third of the Dry Valley Rim study area, and the western third of the Skedaddle study area, while the majority of both study areas is gradually sloping, covered only by sparse sagebrush. Existing geologic maps that cover the two study areas consist of Lydon and others (I960), Bonham (1969), and Diggles and others (1986). The Skedaddle Wilderness Study Area consists of two parallel ridges, the Skedaddle Mountains and the Amedee Mountains. The ridges bound the Wendel and Spencer basins, an area of bleached and silicified rocks. Dry Valley Rim is a 17-mi (5.2 m)-long north-south-trending fault block that is situated 1,500 ft (457 m) above the Smoke Creek Desert to the east. The rim provides good exposure of the thick sequences of volcanic rocks that underlie the wilderness study area. The rocks of the study areas consist mostly of Tertiary basalt, andesite, and lahar with minor amounts of rhyolitic ash-flow tuff, rhyolite, and dacite. Surficial deposits consist of colluvium, alluvium, and talus, as well as aeolian, lacustrine, and fluvial deposits.

California, Nevada↗