MARK SMITH / PVT Burned trees remain above the new vegetation that has been planted around the Jackrabbit Springs restoration site at Ash Meadows. Advertisement

AMARGOSA VALLEY -- A fire at the Jackrabbit Springs restoration site might not have been any worse if it had taken with it the doublewide trailer nearby.

"Probably would have been to our benefit if it had," said Christina Nalen, visitor services manager at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

The building is empty now, and home for desert denizens such as rattlesnakes and rats and God only knows what else.

It's been that way since it was closed down as uninhabitable three years ago, after mold was discovered and it was no longer deemed safe.

But now, having been on the "deferred maintenance" list since then, $400,000 has been freed up and will be used to replace it with a new structure entirely.

"American Recovery dollars were chosen," said Nalen.

Around the compound, which can be approached from a gated and locked turnoff, are a couple of modern trailers, a Desert Research Institute vehicle and a portable weather station, and some storage is in use, so there is no lack of activity.

"We're through here quite a bit," said Nalen.

One reason for the activity is the ongoing use made of students who come to the park to re-seed and refresh areas that have been burned over or are simply worn out and need rejuvenation.

Last year about 60 youngsters were available, learning about the desert landscape and putting in their share of volunteer work. This coming fall and winter students from the new Beaux Arts Elementary School for gifted and talented children in Las Vegas will be arriving to pursue efforts to bring the desert back to itself.

"Before the burn," said Nalen, gesturing across the area generally between Jackrabbit and Big springs, "this was all salt cedar and cattails."

Now, after the most recent effort, two years of new grasses are already thriving, and the crystalline stream running through is cloaked by vegetation.

"It's kind of given us a new canvas on which to work," Nalen said.

A contractor helps maintain the effort with lengths of rubber irrigation hoses snaking across the landscape, each of the thicker hoses sprouting its share of smaller distribution lines. "It's come quite a long way," Nalen observed.

Within view, the trailer that has fallen into disuse will be replaced once the General Services Administration acquires a bidder.

A three-bedroom, two-bath home with a carport and all the fixin's will be put up, and as Nalen put it, "It'll be a nice size for a family."

The idea is to set the home up for a staffer who works at the refuge, so that in the event of an emergency, someone will always be on the scene.

"Mostly what it does is give the staff presence," Nalen said.

The doublewide had been on-site for about eight years but was, overall, a quarter-century old, and its life was effectively over.

At the same time, the refuge is waiting on a decision about a bidder for installation of photovoltaic panels on its five-room bunkhouse at the office so one more project can be completed.

Toward the end of this month, the nation, and Ash Meadows, will recognize National Public Lands Day.

"National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the 'tree army,' that worked from 1933-42 to preserve and protect America's natural heritage," says the Web site for the event.

Set for Saturday, Sept. 26, Nalen said she is hoping as many as 50 volunteers can show up to put in some volunteer work.

She said volunteers need only to be ready to use their hands and stop by along the main road into the refuge from the Ash Meadows Road past the Zeolite plant to just short of the turn-off to Point of Rocks.