Nellis Air Force Base Complex
Nellis Air Force Base Complex | |
|---|---|
Tonopah Bombing Range (FUDS), and other federal lands (the Tonopah Test Range/Area 52, the Red Mountain VORTAC site, and the Regional Training Complex are not demarcated). | |
| Location | basin[specify] between Quartzite Mountain & the Belted Range 37°32′N 116°12′W / 37.533°N 116.200°W |
The Nellis Air Force Base ComplexLas Vegas Army Airfield buildings were constructed.
Geography
The complex is primarily within the
Tonopah Basin—in the Pahrangat Valley near both the Mojave ecotone and the northeast corner of the DNWR.[3]
Traversing the complex is the mid-1800s
Central Basin and Range ecoregion and "Mojavian flora".[5]
Airspace
The Nellis managed airspace MOA, with overlying Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace (ATCAA), Reveille North and South MOA and ATCAA, [and] Restricted Areas":[10]
- Desert MOA: "subdivided into Sally Corridor, Elgin, Caliente, and Coyote training areas."
- Reveille Airspace:[11] North and South MOA
- Restricted Areas (joint use airspace): R-4806 East/West, R-4809 and R-4807 A/B "subdivided as follows: Alamo A, B, & C, Areas 61, 62B & C, 63, 64A, B, C, & D, 65N, 65S, 71N, 71S, 74A, 74B, 74C, 75E, 75W, 76, 76A, Tolicha, Pahute A & B, ECE, ECW, ECS and Cactus EC."
- "R-4808N and portions of R-4808S are non-joint use restricted areas."
The former
Oil Burner/Olive Branch route ("OB-10-Hawthorne") for Strategic Air Command low-level bomber flights scored by the Hawthorne Bomb Plot extended from a "point west of Elko, Nevada, running southwest to Mina, Nevada" at flight level "FL130-140"[12] (the TTR sites for "SAC Targets 1 and 2"[13] are at Antelope Lake.)[8]
Wildlife areas
The Nevada Division of Wildlife's
Big Rocks, [and] Ash Springs Wildlife Area". Lands for federal protection of natural resources include:[3]
- Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
- Desert National Wildlife Refuge: "established to preserve habitat for the desert bighorn sheep, and is managed by the USFWS as a unit of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex".
- Amargosa Pupfish Station
- Ash Springsand managed by the BLM
- Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge: migratory bird habitat south of Alamo along U.S. Route 93 in Nevada
- Leviathan Cave Geologic Area:. Leviathon Cave tunnels and chambers for spelunkers and geologists on the east side of the Worthington Mountain Range and administered by the BLM
- White River Narrows Archaeological District: cultural artifacts such as petroglyphs on SR-318 north of Hikoand managed by the BLM
- Railroad Valley Wildlife Management Area[14]
Military operations "when a
Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the BLM & USFS provide protections under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.[3]
| Area | Location (landforms, etc.) | Facilities/sites | Agency | Years | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada Test and Training Range—shares ~1,276 sq mi (3,300 km2) of the Southern Range with the DNWR | Northern Range: Southern Range: southern Tikaboo Valley, Dogbone Dry Lake in Range 62,[15] |
Northern: Tolich Peak ECR, Tonopah ECR Southern: Point Bravo ECR, Dogbone Lake G&BR,[15] Groom Lake Field in Area 51 |
USAF | 1942–present | 4,531 sq mi (11,740 km2) |
Camp Desert Rock FUDS of 23,058 acres (9,331 ha)[16] J09NV0276
|
Frenchman Flat, Jackass Flats, Yucca Flat, Rainer & Pahute Mesas, | 10 heliports, 2 "wild horse units ... Unit 252 [&] Unit 253",[1] Pahute Mesa Airstrip (Area 18), Desert Rock Airport (Area 20), "Yucca Lake UAV testing facility", "Yucca Mountain Underground Facility",[15] Big Explosives Experimental Facility (Area 4), Criticality Experiments Facility (Area 6), former Base Camp Mercury | DOE | 1951–present | ~1,355 sq mi (3,510 km2) |
| Desert National Wildlife Refuge land east of the NTTR | FUDS: Former | USFWS | 1936–present | 1,248 sq mi (3,230 km2) | |
Tonopah Bombing Range (FUDS) * J09NV1114
|
Sand Springs valleys ("60 miles east of Tonopah ")
|
USFWS National Wildlife Refuge of ~22.25 sq mi (57.6 km2) at the Kawich Range, Rachel community (Sand Springs Valley), Area 51 viewing areas (Tonopah Uplands along Tikaboo Valley) | BLM[19] | 1942–19xx (FUDS: 1999) |
~311,040 acres (125,870 ha)[20] |
| Tonopah Rifle Range J09NV0970 Tonopah Army Airfield Practice Bombing Ranges* J09NV1112[21]
|
"Sand Spring [sic]-Tikaboo Valleys"[22] |
1941-tbd |
|||
| Area A J09NV1103
|
north and northeast of NTTR | former ranges 46-56 "returned to public domain" by 1941 EO9019 and 1957 EO10355
|
BLM | ~1,107 sq mi (2,870 km2)[23] | |
| Tonopah Test Range | "Cactus and Gold Flats, Kawich Valley, Goldfield Hills, and the Stonewall Mountains",[1] Cactus Flat, Antelope Lake Valley | Mellan Airstrip (37°41′16″N 116°37′50″W),
|
DOE | 1957–present | ~280 sq mi (730 km2)[1] |
Humboldt National Forest
|
"Total Acreage" includes "217,086" acres not federally-owned[24] | 2,618,165 acres (1,059,534 ha)[24] | |||
| Wildhorse Management Area | bordered on 3 sides by the NTTR Northern Range and on the north, Tonopah Bombing Range (FUDS) | BLM[1] | |||
| Nellis Air Force Base | North Las Vegas
|
Area I: Airport, "Nellis Control", Lake Mead Base J09NV0442 Area III: Armory, family housing |
USAF | 1941-6, 1947–present | 17.7 sq mi (46 km2) |
| Nellis Small Arms Range Complex | Las Vegas Valley & Mojave Arid Footslopes of Sheep Mountain, "north of the main base of Nellis AFB" and adjacent to "World War II Gunnery Range (FUDS)" on west and north | active area: 6,957 acres (2,815 ha) inactive (MRA MU732): 6.2 sq mi (16 km2) |
USAF tbd
|
1941–present 1941-65[2] |
17.1 sq mi (44 km2) |
| Tonopah Air Force Base J09NV0969
|
BLM | 1942–195x | 7,228.23 acres (2,925.16 ha)[19] | ||
| Creech Air Force Base | adjacent to Indian Springs AFAF land designated a FUDS by 2002)[25]
|
Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence UAV-Logistic and Training Facility |
USAF | 1942-5, 1948–present | 2,300 acres (930 ha)[18] |
ADA activity area"), part of eastern DNWR
|
Coal V (sites 110E*, F*, G), Sand Springs V (112C, E, F, G, H, I), Six Mile Flat (109),
|
Logistics Support Area (LSA) at Alamo Airfield & 13 sites each 500 ft × 500 ft (150 m × 150 m) *in "wild horse Herd Management Areas (HMA)[3] |
BLM[3]: 1–1 | 2008–present | 74.1 acres (30.0 ha)[3]+ |
| site | Portion is leased to Nellis AFB[ | Former Phoenix ADS radar site Former Phoenix ADS radar site Former Phoenix ADS radar site 2 radar platforms at former Reno ADS site Former Reno ADS site |
FAA FAA USAF |
1956-69 1956-70 |
|
| Regional Training Complex (Silver Flag Alpha facility) | ~15 miles south of Indian Springs on US95[26] | 12 small arms ranges, MOUT village, bare base tent city, maneuver area
|
|||
| Tonopah (TPH) VORTAC
|
38°01′50.321″N 117°02′00.627″W / 38.03064472°N 117.03350750°W[27] near Nye County's Tonopah Airport (38°03′37″N 117°05′12″W / 38.06028°N 117.08667°W) | FAA | |||
| Hawthorne Bomb Plot | Babbitt, Nevada (Mineral County) | former "USAF Radar Station" for RBS | USAF US Navy |
1962–1985 1993 |
|
| Delamar Dry Lake Test Annex J09NV0023
|
Delamar Valley | ||||
| Sunrise Mountain Machine Gun Range J09NV0639
|
|||||
| " North Las Vegas Station" near Nellis AFB station"
"Key Pittman WMA |
4.19 in (106 mm) average precipcipitation/year 7.94 in (202 mm) " |
Climatology monitoring sites (weather stations)[3]: 3–1 | NOAA
|
1951–present 1964–present |
History
The original 1940 area named
Tonopah Bombing Range" (J09NV1114)—and the different FUDS J09NV1112 was given a new name --"Tonopah Army Airfield Practice Bombing Ranges"—by 1999.[21]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Wagner, Katrina, ed. (September 2004). 2003 Annual Site Environmental Report, Tonopah Test Range (PDF) (Report). Sandia National Laboratories. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
- ^ a b c Comprehensive Site Evaluation Phase II (PDF) (Report). June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-03. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
The Las Vegas Valley (the Valley) is a bowl-shaped basin surrounded by rugged mountain ranges. The entire hydrographic basin is 1,600 square miles. The western edge of the Valley is approximately 5 miles west of Lake Mead, which is an impoundment on the Colorado River. The Valley occupies a structural basin in the Basin and Range Province of the northern Mojave Desert, and most shallow groundwater and all surface flows are transported to Lake Mead via the Las Vegas Wash.... The total land area occupied by Nellis AFB and its restricted ranges is more than 5,000 square miles. An additional 7,700 square miles of airspace north and east of the restricted ranges also are available for military flight operations.... Table 2-1 Former Ranges and Impact Areas.... The Small Arms Range Ordnance Ejection Site OT-39, now known as OT-37, located in the active portion of the Nellis Small Arms Range ... MU732 is currently inactive and considered a closed range but is accessed by authorized installation personnel, authorized contractors and visitors, and trespassers.
(small arms annex areas on p. 5-1) - ^ Sarcobatus vermiculatus), black sage (A. nova), and rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) are also common and are often co-dominant or present in many Great Basin plant communities.[p. 3-5] ... The baseline Nellis AFB complex emission summary for the Nellis area and the NTTR, which includes Lincoln County, is given in Table 5-2.)
{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Futrell, Robert F. (July 1947). Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States: 1939–1945 (Report). Vol. ARS-69: US Air Force Historical Study No 69 (Copy No. 2). Air Historical Office.
- ^ a b c d Bryce, S.A., Woods, A.J., Morefield, J.D., Omernik, J.M., McKay, T.R., Brackley, G.K., Hall, R.K., Higgins, D.K., McMorran, D.C., Vargas, K.E., Petersen, E.B., Zamudio, D.C., and Comstock, J.A., 2003, Ecoregions of Nevada (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs): Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey (map scale 1:1,350,000).
- ^ Spurr, Josiah Edward (1905). Geology of the Tonopah Mining District, Nevada (Internet Archive abstract). GPO. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
The writer has previously described the Great Basin region as forming part of a great petrographic province, and later it has been shown that this province extends into Mexico, and may reach much farther northeast and southwest.... In April, 1900, James L. Butler ... on Mizpah Hill, he broke off specimens [valued] from $50 to $600 per ton in silver and gold.... Until the present season (1904) ... the fronts of many of the Basin ranges are bordered by a continuous apron of debris sloping down into the center of the valley.... The greatest of the earth's oceans is rimmed by the greatest of the earth's volcanic belts. This "circle of fire,"...
-- Included U.S. Geological Survey "Professional Paper No. 42" maps are Plate III (pp. 28-9 mining claim map) & Plate XVI (pp. 116-7 geologic map with streets and buildings). - ^ "Tonopah Manhattan Stage Route (864176)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
- ^ Brownes, Pedro, and Main Lakes, and Antelope Tuff 1, Antelope Tuff 2, Sidewinder Tuff, Myers Ridge, and Mt Helen (Nellis Range 75). The only location with land use restrictions is Antelope Lake. (for SAC Targets 1 and 2, see DOE/NV--1409)
- ISBN 9781465343369. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
- ^ Control and Use Procedures for Nevada Test and Training Range Complex (Letter of Agreement)
- ^ USAF (U.S. Air Force). USAF, 2002. Final Environmental Assessment: Changes in Reveille Airspace at NTTR. Table 3.2-1.
- ^ [dead link]Proposed IAO/DTE Resource Availability (PDF) (Report). c. 1970. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
OB-10-Hawthorne: A point west of Elko, Nevada, running southwest to Nuna, Nevada FL130-140)
[permanent dead link] - ^ Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 408: Bomblet Target Area Tonopah Test Range (TTR), Nevada (PDF) (Report). Vol. DOE/NV--1409. Nevada Environmental Restoration Project. September 2010. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
SAC I & II Targets contained forty-five (45) 100m x 100m grids.... The boundary for the SAC Target locations encompassed an area of approximately 72 acres
- ^ "Railroad Valley Wildlife Management Area (862837)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
- ^ a b c "Military Air Chart of the Nellis Ranges". BibliotecaPleyades.net. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
- ^ Fall 2012 On Point Camp Desert Rock, Nevada: "Immediately after Operation Plumbbob's Galileo shot on 7 October 1957, the camp reverted to standby status, with a small caretaker staff remaining at the post. After the suspension of aboveground testing in 1957, the camp ceased operation as an Army subinstallation effective 18 June 1964. Many of the camp's structures were moved to other parts of the NTS. The AEC resurfaced and enlarged the Desert Rock airstrip in 1969, extending the runway to a length of 7,500 feet. Although this airstrip was originally built to serve the NTS, it is currently an emergency landing site for any aircraft. Later additions included a National Weather Service facility and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Surface Radiation (SURFRAD) station."
- ^ Silkebakken, Don; Kelley, Laura (Project Managers) (February 2010). Programmatic Work Plan for Southwest IMA Region (Report). FUDS Military Munitions Response Program (Revision No. 2, "Revised Final" version ed.). Parsons.
- ^ a b "Creech Air Force Base". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
In 1976, the USAF relinquished primary control of what is now Area F to the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This land is now part of the Desert National Wildlife Reserve.
- ^ Sand Spring) are identified throughout the site area. Located to the south and southwest of the site location is Tonopah Test Range[page 4-13] The site has the Kawech Range on the west, the Timpahute Range and the Worthington Mountains on the east, the Belted and Papoose Ranges to the south, and the Reveille Range to the northwest [and] is part of the Sand Spring-Tikaboo Valleys ... the Tonopah Army Air Force Bombing Range site drains down from the mountains towards valley floor. [sic] ... On 14 January 1941, by virtue of Executive Order Number 8636, the War Department withdrew an additional 7,338.23 acres in Nevada for use as an aviation base.[p. 5-1] ... Currently, the majority of the original Tonopah Bombing Range property is owned by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to the public.[p. 5-2]
- U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- ^ a b Inventory Project Report: Tonopah Army Airfield Practice Bombing Ranges (DERP - FUDS SiteNo. J09NV1112). United States Army Corps of Engineers. March 1999.
- ^ Final Inventory Project Report, Tonopah Bombing Range (Report). Project Number - J09NV1114. USACE Sacramento District. September 1999.
Squadron Histories K-SQ-Test-4201 -HI Tonopah Test Range, 1976 ... Training Histories 224.95 1 -1 West Coast Air Corps Training Center, October 1941 ... (with map) of Las Vegas AAF and includes Tonopah range
- Military Operations Area(MOA) for flyovers by the pilots from Nellis Air Force Base ... and is not part of ... Nellis Air Force Range." (GlobalSecurity.org webpage)
- ^ a b http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar/LAR2011/LAR2011_Book_A5.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Satus of Installations With Response Completed (PDF) (Report). Defense Environmental Restoration Program (OSD). Table C-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "99th Ground Combat Training Squadron - "Silver Flag Alpha"". Nellis AFB public affairs. July 12, 2012. Archived from the original (fact sheet) on March 3, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
- ^ "TPH: Tonopah VORTAC Navigation Facility | MyAviationInfo.com". www.myaviationinfo.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.