Nellis Air Force Base Complex

The Nellis Air Force Base Complex (Nellis AFB complex, NAFB Complex) is the southern Nevada military region of federal facilities and lands, e.g., currently and formerly used for military and associated testing and training such as Atomic Energy Commission atmospheric nuclear detonations of the Cold War. The largest land area of the complex is the Nevada Test and Training Range, and numerous Formerly Used Defense Sites remain federal lands of the complex. Most of the facilities are controlled by the United States Air Force and/or the Bureau of Land Management, and many of the controlling units are based at Creech and Nellis Air Force Bases (e.g., 98th SRSS for NTTR's southern range). Initiated by a 1939 military reconnaissance for a bombing range, federal acquisition began in 1940, and McCarran Field became the World War II training area's 1st of 3 Nevada World War II Army Airfields (cf. Indian Springs & Tonopah) and 10 auxiliary fields. The area's first military unit was initially headquartered in the Las Vegas Federal Building while the WWII Las Vegas Army Airfield buildings were constructed.

Geography

The complex is primarily within the Great Basin physiographic section, and the White River portion east of the Great Basin Divide is in the Colorado River Watershed. Ecology is primarily Tonopah Basin surrounding elevated areas (Foothills/Uplands & High Valleys/Mid-Slope Woodland & Brushland) and 6 Tonopah Playas in Antelope Lake's valley, Cactus Flat, Groom Lake Valley, southern Railroad Valley, Sand Springs Valley, and the northwest NTTR corner. The southern part of the complex in the Mojave Desert ecoregion is mostly Creosote Bush-Dominated Basins and Arid Footslopes ( Jackass Flats is in the Amargosa Desert ecoregion.) The complex includes 2 Salt Deserts—in the Coal Valley which has 3 sites of the "ADA activity area" (110E, 110F, & 110G) and in Dry Lake Valley (site 103 along the Burnt Springs Range). The highest ecoregion is in the Tonopah Bombing Range (FUDS) which includes a Central Nevada Bald Mountains ecoregion in the Kawich Range—the southern Bald Mountains are within the NTTR between the TTR & Wildhorse Management Area. The Logistic Supply Area of the ADA activity area is near the only Wetland ecoregion of the Tonopah Basin—in the Pahrangat Valley near both the Mojave ecotone and the northeast corner of the DNWR.

Traversing the complex is the mid-1800s Utah & New Mexico Territories' dividing line (37th parallel north), and the area was used for the 1900–1921 silver rush (e.g., Tonopah Mining District & Tonopah Manhattan Stage Route) The region of mining claims was grouped into numbered geographic areas (e.g., Area 2, Area 5, Area 11, Area 12, Area 25, Area 27, Area 52) which are used for current names, e.g., "Area 3 Compound" and "Groom Lake Field" ("Area 51" colloq.). The 1941-9 demarcation between the Tonopah & Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Ranges (Parallel 36°30′ north) is generally along the serpentine Creosote Bush ecotone between the Central Basin and Range ecoregion and "Mojavian flora".

Airspace

The Nellis managed airspace associated with the complex is more than , is the responsibility of the " US Air Force Virtual (USAFv), A3", and "is composed of the Desert MOA, with overlying Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace (ATCAA), Reveille North and South MOA and ATCAA, ndRestricted Areas":
* Desert MOA: "subdivided into Sally Corridor, Elgin, Caliente, and Coyote training areas."
* Reveille Airspace: 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" (the TTR sites for "SAC Targets 1 and 2" are at Antelope Lake.) (for SAC Targets 1 and 2, see DOE/NV--1409)

Wildlife areas

The Nevada Division of Wildlife's Key Pittman Wildlife Management Area has a NOAA weather station, and Wilderness Areas include the " Worthington Mountains, Weepah Springs, Big Rocks, ndAsh Springs Wildlife Area". Lands for federal protection of natural resources include:
* 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 Springs Public Rock Art Site: petroglyphs and semi-circular rock alignments south of Ash Springs and 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 Hiko and managed by the BLM
* Railroad Valley Wildlife Management Area
Military operations "when a tortoise is found in harms way" are suspended until it has been removed by an authorized biologist (e.g., dispatched by the Nellis AFB Natural Resources Manager), nesting surveys are conducted prior to military exercises for species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the BLM & USFS provide protections under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.

History

The original 1940 area named Tonopah Bombing Range was split during WWII and 1 of the 2 subdivisions was named Tonopah Bombing and Gunnery Range in 1947. In 1999 a different area was named a FUDS with the original name--" Tonopah Bombing Range" (J09NV1114)—and the different FUDS J09NV1112 was given a new name --"Tonopah Army Airfield Practice Bombing Ranges"—by 1999.

Notes

{{Reflist , refs=

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).

{{Citation , year=1942 , title=Executive Order 9019{{Full citation needed, date=February 2013 NOTE: EO9019 returned ~{{Convert, 937730, acre, sqmi, abbr=on of the Las Vegas General Range to the Department of the Interior and by 1953, ~{{Convert, 154584, acre, sqmi, abbr=on of the former Tonopah General Range were relinquished. "These two tracts of land comprise Area A, approximately 708,621 acres ... in Lincoln and Nye Counties north and northeast of the present-day boundaries of the Nellis Air Force Range ... the majority of the area is used for wildlife conservation and is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).... The remainder of the land is owned by various private landowners ... The majority of Area A is still used today as a 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)

{{Cite report , title=Archives Search Report: Findings (Tonopah Bombing Range) , quote=The general location of the site lies within relatively flat area, with numerous intermittent drains running through the site area and dry lakes. Several mountain ranges (Reveille and Kawich) and valleys ( Stone Cabin, Hot Creek, Railroad, Tikaboo, and Sand Spring) are identified throughout the site area. Located to the south and southwest of the site location is Tonopah Test Range ^{age 4-13/sup> 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 ndis part of the Sand Spring-Tikaboo Valleys ... the Tonopah Army Air Force Bombing Range site drains down from the mountains {{sic, towards valley floor. ... 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. . 5-1/sup> ... Currently, the majority of the original Tonopah Bombing Range property is owned by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to the public. . 5-2/sup>}

{{Cite report , last=Futrell , first=Robert F. , publisher=Air Historical Office , date=July 1947 , title=Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States: 1939–1945 , volume=ARS-69: US Air Force Historical Study No 69 (Copy No. 2)

{{Cite report , last=Huntley , first=Chris, Proj. Mgr. , date=August 2008 , title=...Patriot Communications Exercises in Lincoln County, Nevada , url=http://www.nellis.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080404-038.pdf , format=Final Environmental Assessment , volume=AFD-081006-078 , publisher=Aspen Environmental Group , access-date=2013-02-06 , page=5-2 , quote=Plant communities in this region are characterized by Mojave Desert Scrub and Great Basin Desert Scrub biomes (Brown, 1994).... Great Basin Desert Scrub evolved from both cold-temperate and warm-temperate vegetation and is characterized by communities dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), shadscale (A. confertifolia), or winterfat ( Krascheninnikovia lanata) (Brown, 1994). Blackbrush ( Coleogyne ramosissima), greasewood (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. ^{. 3-5/sup> ... The baseline Nellis AFB complex emission summary for the Nellis area and the NTTR, which includes Lincoln County, is given in Table 5-2. , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304014049/http://www.nellis.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080404-038.pdf , archive-date=2013-03-04}

{{Cite report , last1=Silkebakken , first1=Don , last2=Kelley , first2=Laura (Project Managers) , title=Programmatic Work Plan for Southwest IMA Region , date=February 2010 , edition=Revision No. 2, "Revised Final" version , publisher=Parsons , series=FUDS Military Munitions Response Program

{{Cite book , last=Spurr , first=Josiah Edward , year=1905 , title=Geology of the Tonopah Mining District, Nevada , url=https://archive.org/details/geologyoftonopah00spurrich , format=Internet Archive abstract , publisher=GPO , access-date=2013-02-07 , quote=''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 aluedfrom $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).

{{Cite report, date=June 2010, title=Comprehensive Site Evaluation Phase II, url=http://www.nellis.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100621-030.pdf, access-date=2013-06-08, quote=''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.'', url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303231607/http://www.nellis.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100621-030.pdf, archive-date=2013-03-03 (small arms annex areas on p. 5-1)

{{Cite report , editor=Wagner, Katrina , date=September 2004 , title=2003 Annual Site Environmental Report, Tonopah Test Range , url=http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2004/042812.pdf , publisher=Sandia National Laboratories , access-date=2013-02-04

Military installations in Nevada
Installations of the United States Air Force in Nevada
Lists of United States military installations
1940 establishments in Nevada