#601 

I don’t think that place is abandoned. Someone is taking good care of the animals.

So glad they didn’t allow the development of Ash Meadows. Thanks for the clip Wonder.

I started working in Ash Meadows in 1995. Prior to that I worked for The Nature Conservancy. Prior to TNC I did several river restorations in Utah. Never worked for the ACOE. Ash Meadows is a very special place. It has more endemic species than anywhere in the US. Once the USFWS bought the land and water, their goal was to, to the degree possible, restore the place to its ecological function. The first project I worked on was Kings Spring.

Amazing or incredible doesn't begin to describe someone who can quote facts, figures, names, dates and places from memory for 30 minutes.. In addition, this young lady does it an entertaining way...The fact that she's pretty cute doesn't hurt either..

You are one of the great story tellers of RU-vid, not many people can make a barren desert interesting. In fact can't think of anyone else that can do it like you can.

I think the pupfish is my hero. Small guys do matter. The water should have been in the deed. From the sounds of how they got the water, the property never had any rights to begin with.

Generally, in the western states, if you divert a natural stream you have to establish a legal water right to do so by filing an application with the state and having that approved through a water court. This system has been in place since the mid 19th century. This gives anyone who might be harmed by what you are doing the right to notice and to object. If you buy a property that has some sort of water use that doesn't have that legal water right you have no legal remedy if it is taken away. The lesson is, particularly in the desert, if you buy a property with water, including wells, you should make sure that you have a legal right to that water. This should be covered by title insurance since water rights are property rights. If the buyers of the church camp didn't get title insurance be it on their heads if they didn't make sure they had a legal right to the water. That is sometimes the cost of not doing your due diligence or doing something on the cheap/

The white fiberglass thing you saw is a parshall flume and is used to measure water flow without impeading the flow. It is used at many water and wastewater treatment plants.

Hussy, if you want to learn more about this and who built this place message me and I'll get you in contact with the original builder. He now has a similar place outside of Goldfield where we have events during the summer in a private ghost town similar to Walts place up in Goldpoint. Thanks for sharing

I’d imagine she’d be a great host for a show in the travel channel or history channel. She has all the tangibles.

12:35 - cats that well fed adnd groomed are pets. they probably belong to one of those private home owners you described.

Somebody must be taking care of the burros and the cats

Preserving a natural unique ecosystem is always right. People need to learn to coexist with our ecosystems not destroy for personal fulfillment. I must add that the same equipment (cell phone and computer) used to make negative comments is equally useful in doing some research in gaining an understanding of the importance of using natural resources in a sustainable human centered way. Yet, I understand being a media Troll (for some fellow human beings) is necessary to help Them boost their self-esteem. Good luck with that cognitive emotional instability 😎👍🏿

As usual I was captivated by you and your narrative of your post. Very interesting! I do appreciate the time and effort you put into your research of the subject matter. It makes one think of themselves back in that time if they could handle the situation. You take people away from the reality of today and let them have an escape form it for just a little while, it is almost magical. Thank you so much for doing what you do!

The place isn’t abandoned. Someone is attending to fenced in burros.

Excellent video, loved all of it. Everytime I watch I am learning new info. Thanks to you.

Very NICELY DONE - with HISTORY - while creating a "QUESTION" instead of POINTING FINGERS and BASHING! This is HOW a DISCUSSION should BEGIN and be CONDUCTED as OPIONION GATHERING for ALL to TURN WITHIN and EXAMINE ALL SIDES! Thank you!

Thank you for making me feel happy! Your videos witty, funny, educational.. The way you made me giggle peeking over your glasses saying feds, and the way you say government . I think you could be a great stand up comedian,you probably don’t know how funny you are. Keep up the great work.

Thank you for the history and narration. Well done. Patch of Heaven is now pit of gravel. The animals look healthy so someone is doing a good job of taking care of the property. IMO common law has held for a long while if someone diverts a watershed from its natural course they are taking water that is not theirs and depriving the rightful users of the resource.

24:05 They fought and they lost. The courts ruled that the floods were the results of heavy rains, and the judge didn't buy the argument the the Federal Government was responsible.

Thanks for sharing this novelty in the desert. Very informative and well done.

I definitely enjoyed this video. I love traveling with you! You find such unique places, always very interesting thanks Sarah...

I understand saving an ecosystem, and yet, if you bought property with water flowing through it, there should be something on paper regarding water rights. Water rights are defined quite clearly on deeds, (especially in the desert). I bought 1.45 acres of desert, years ago, and listed on my deed was that I had no water rights. I could have drilled a half mile down, found water, and it would be someone else's water ... because I had no right to it. Those persons who bought the Patch of Heaven, either had water rights or not. If they had no rights to the water on the land, the government was in their right to divert the water away. If the deed said, the owners had water rights, the government should not have been able to divert all the water away.

Victor and Annette Fuentes have officially started the process of reopening the Carson Slough following years of waiting for a federal agency to do as it was ordered. Finally, at their limit of patience, the husband-and-wife team, who own and operate the Patch of Heaven Christian Camp in Nye County, hosted a press conference of sorts on Saturday, July 30 to celebrate their decision to restore their water themselves. Patch of Heaven is a 40-acre parcel of private land located within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When Victor and Annette first purchased the property, it was a lush oasis in the desert, with plenty of water flowing in channels running through the site and filling ponds used for camp activities. That all changed in 2010 when Fish and Wildlife altered the Carson Slough, diverting the water around the Fuentes’ property and turning it into a dust bowl. In addition to the lack of water, the Fuentes’s then had to deal with unusual flooding occurrences that they said were a direct result of the alteration of the slough. With no alternative, the two took legal action that resulted in a years-long battle between the Fuentes’s and Fish and Wildlife. That conflict seemed to have come to an end in 2017 when the federal agency was ordered to return the water to which the Fuentes’s had a senior vested right. But Fish and Wildlife never took action to restore the water so Victor was preparing to take a tractor out and do it himself. Victor and Annette were joined by several dozen supporters on July 30 and the gathering at the Christian camp opened with an invocation. “We come before you with humbleness in our hearts to ask you for protection for today, to ask you to give us the ‘OK’ for today, Lord Jesus, and I thank you for each and every one of my brothers and sisters, members of the community, who have showed up here today in support of the right of Patch of Heaven,” Victor prayed. Those assembled for the event then stood up and faced the American flag for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, after which both Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly and Nye County Commissioner Debra Strickland were invited to speak. Wehrly read from documentation detailing the Fuentes’ right to nearly seven acre-feet of water from the Carson Slough, remarking, “So that’s his permit to have the water come through his property. And it seems that he has been doing everything that he possibly can to get that done.” Next, Wehrly read a document outlining the warning notice sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in which the Nevada state engineer had determined that the federal agency was violating the law through its action of diverting the flow of the Carson Slough. In that letter, Fish and Wildlife was ordered to cease the full and complete diversion of the surface water that should move through the Patch of Heaven property. That order came with the possible penalty of a fine of up to $10,000 per day per violation, as well as other consequences, none of which have materialized. Strickland stepped up to the microphone following Wehrly and she was evidently fired up about the reason everyone was assembled that morning. “We have rights, and the rights have been taken from this man,” Strickland declared, indicating Victor. “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting. You know it, it’s been like that since the beginning of time. Nothing has changed here. We’re still fighting for the water! “When did the feds decide that all things belong to them? No way, Jose, ain’t going on no longer,” Strickland continued. “This is the time… And Victor, Annette, you are brave people and we are so proud of you for that. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to watch you take back your right.” At that point, Victor requested that Wehrly call Fish and Wildlife to ask a representative of that office to come down to the camp and talk over the situation. “Let’s reconcile this, let’s talk. We want to see their response,” Victor announced. Fish and Wildlife, however, was not amenable to going to the camp but a representative did invite the Fuentes’, Strickland and Wehrly to their office. The discussion, however, apparently ended without the reconciliation that Victor was aiming for. Not deterred from his mission, he and Annette returned to their land and Victor headed out to the area that had been backfilled to divert the Carson Slough, to begin the task of reopening the waterway to its historic flow path. This is no simple matter, either. It will take time and patience for the couple to safely and successfully complete the operation but they fully intend to see the historic flow path of the Carson Slough reinstated in the coming days

Thank God the government had the brains to do the right thing for once ! And protect that beautiful country ! Thanks 😘 Wonder hussy ! For another informative and great video 👍

That's the Church of Metamorph. The priests shape-shift into cats 🐈 whenever strangers are around. That's my ride, I gotta go.

Sarah, this video brought back memories, in 1963 I used to come out to Ash Meadows and go swimming in the pools. This was of course long before any Gov't. regulations! Everything looks pretty much the same. You mention Dad Fairbanks, He was the grandfather of my old friend Brian Brown, who owns China Ranch, also Susan Sorrell, who owns the town of Shoshone. They are cousins.... just a little family history here :>) Another great video ! ! !

I love stuff like this,thanks for sharing with us.I always find you very interesting the way you tell your story’s.

Sarah as always entertaining and informative... Thank you!

Now that was very interesting! I'm heading to DV tomorrow morning and was looking at the Ash Meadows area .. and didn't realize how close it was to my favorite gas station before dropping down into the Valley .. the Longstreet Casino by the big cow! Now I'll have to check that out more closely! Thanks! 🤠

The music makes me smile every time, because it's a gonna be wonderful ad a venture with a pretty a nomad of da desert!

Im very familiar with those pup fish. In in order to protect them further, they are separated and moved to two different places in owens Valley in natural spring on the mountain side. I've visited both locations, knowing someone who works in water and power. There is also an issue with people dumping poison into the water to kill the pup fish because they believe we're interfering with evolution by stopping extinction. They had to be moved to difficult locations that ive been to. Really amazing

If these developers are hell-bent on developing something, why not try their hand at a place that actually needs it? Detroit comes to mind. There are enough already ruined areas that could be returned to functionality maybe even beauty, without screwing up yet another wonderful natural location.

Super interesting; thanks for checking out that entire area and doing the research. Hope you will do more videos like this one. I'm a fairly new subscriber and am enjoying your vids. Good work!

Takes me back to my youth. Playing in the dunes in the morning, skinny dipping and fishing at ash meadows in the afternoon. Only to get kicked out of the brothels at night. Those were the Day's

great video...great narration...great insights and great personal feelings.......seriously you seem much happier and recharged this new year...good for you....

I enjoy your videos. I did a lot of the ecological restoration at some of the sites you have visited, including Ash Meadows. The Patch of Heaven was never a green oasis. Yes they had a ditch with some water, but they did not own the water rights. The place looks the same today as it did over a decade ago. I would love to talk to you about the sites you have visited that I worked on.

Wonderful Sarah, another land of time. Love it! 😎👍

I found an article dated 2018 explaining that they won in court and the government was ordered to restore their water. The government constructed a pumping station to send the water, but it doesn't work properly so the fight is still going on.

Hussy is stepping up her game! 👏

Loved your rant Sarah. Keep up the adventures!!

Great story and you're a good storyteller. Thank you for the video. 🌵

Thank you. So much information. I love it. Amazing whats out there and the water being protected.

Another Great video Wonderhussy!! love listening g to you

Sara Jane, your tours to the desert are awesome 👌 love watching. You are such a sweetheart. Love from Texas.

Great story! Stay healthy.

The interesting thing about water is that the earths supply is finite. The water never leaves the planet so the water here was also water in some form since the formation of the planet. Pretty mind blowing.

Brilliant, as usual. Hope you're feeling better....

Sarah another excellent history on your adventure ❤️❤️❤️

Hey Hussy I'm a new subscriber and already love your video vlogs! I usually watch Adam The Woo, Daze With Jordan The Lion & Carpetbagger but your channel is my newest addition to traveling vlogs! I love Vegas and can't wait to get back there sometime soon I hope! Last time I was in Vegas was 2011! I miss it so much!💖

Great quick research and storytelling!

Cool video! Thank you, Sarah Jane for showing us this place and making it so entertaining. :)

On her way to becoming 'The Richard Attenborough of Las Vegas and Death Valley'. I am serious, you've got the talent. And you could as well employ some sort of ghost writers to write down your spoken texts, go over them and have them printed as a book series - 'Adventure walks with WH' - together with some of your marvellous pictures you always take. while exploring. Could be an additional side brand to Las Vegas. 'LV and WHs exiting adventure walks to the hidden secrets - only here in this beautiful area'. And thank you for sharing 🤗.

About 5 years ago, a friend and I were in a rental car headed to Wells, Nevada to pick up her brother. Thank the good Lord I got the extra insurance because when we drove through Ash Meadows (middle of the night & a full moon), ALL the wild rabbits were lined up on both sides of the road and ran towards the lights of our car! It was a blood bath!!

You crack me up every time I watch your vids, stay safe out there Lil bit.

I always love your videos and am wondering how you are doing with shingles??...praying you feel better soon.

Gotta wonder if the seller knew that the Feds were going to divert that water supply, since they (Feds) were already working on the area.

Best part of this video,seeing the 2 cats.🐈🐱

Glad to see WH in the new year! I will be looking in often.

WH.. you are informative as much as you are entertaining!!... thank you!!

Thank you for this episode. That donkey was doing the donkey bonkey because they were happy seeing a person. Donkeys do that, as a way of laughing, expressing delight, saying hello. Its their language of expression. I hope you did not take that cat. Be a visitor....not a taker

I always enjoy listening to your research info. I am learning alot from the Hussy.

WH, this would be a good “follow up” video opportunity, interviewing the owner and touring the whole place!

The spring reminds me of you , hopefulness out of bare ness thanks for your enthusiasm ☮️🌵

Some of my favorite WH videos are about the Amargosa river and its environs. Natural features and sites of man's impact (good or bad )abound in this area. Sarah, you do a great job of mining these stories and sharing them. In this case l agree with returning the area to as close as possible to natural conditions. Stay safe.🌹🌵

You're so cool Ms. Hussy, love the vids...

The Vegas Valley / Las Vegas (“The Meadows”) was similar in many ways to Ash Meadows, but preservation came to late to save an unusually distant northwestern population of the Chiricahua Leopard Frog, and probably a lot of other oasis dependent desert animals as well.

Very interesting and informative. Thank you!

I think someone is still living there in the camp Sarah. Glad you didn`t go in, someone feeding the animals. Respect the sign girl, stay smart, be safe. Feds. will take land if needed for water rights or roads if you don`t sell it to them. Not fair but law. I hope the land price was paid back.

Wonder Hussy needs more SUBS, spread the word of the day ... GAMS ! & lets get her some #'s

Omg it would be awesome to know what all is down there and how deep it is...it might open up to a big huge canern or something....thats crazy...awesome video...love ya bunches😊😊😊😊😊

Take it from an old cat lady. That sweet well nourished cat has a beloved owner. Owner Probably has a few cats there for company. I live at the very west part of Pahrump right next to the mountains. On a septic but with city water from Amagosa Great Basin water company. Sort of like a vacation home but lived in all the time. Love the beauty and privacy. I like your wanderings through the desert.

I lived in Amargosa back in 1993, I was caretaking a pivot irrigation ranch about 8 miles NW from Ash Meadows. The weather can get pretty crazy at times, lots of strange lights to the east during the summer, and tons of snakes & scorpions.

I wasn't aware of this preserve as an argument to save a fish species but do recall the Delta Smelt debate for similar reasons. I am also aware of fresh water being a problem for much of the desert regions of California and Nevada, as well as several desert areas out west. Farmers and the federal government are not friends as a result in many cases.

Another great vid, Sistafrennn!!

One of your best. Great video.😎

Like you, Good argument for both sides. However I do believe the indigenous, diverted streams for irrigation purposes.

Awesome information & water rites are crazy important in Montana also.without them you could lose your irrigation for your land. Glad to see you feeling better. Ancient places are truly amazing & mysterious. Have a blessed week my beautiful friend 💖🌟

I just love you.... you bring interesting places and people to all of us. Now I want to go to many of these places now... Thank you for all you do WH.. KEEP ON TRAVELING TOO... BLESSINGS AND BE SAFE TOO...💜💜💜💜

Good job on this one ☝️ fantastic information ℹ️ from a Canadian perspective. Really enjoy your videos. Walking with Bruce.

What a great place! I am glad we protect these places because they are so awesome and deserve to be protected but sometimes officials take things too far. Seems like in the restoration allowing access to property owners should have been considered because they have rights too.

Thank you for sharing this beautiful place with us and telling us what you found out about that area I believe the fed government should do everything they can to protect all natural resources and wildlife greed should never be first all life is first

Very interesting, nice video Sarah.

Very interesting places you visit. Thank You

FYI, you received a message from the owner of Patch of Heaven under the Brian Garrow comment. It might be interesting to contact her and see the patch up close and also get her story.

Perhaps a smaller portion of water could have been allowed to continue through the camp. If that was not practical or satisfactory, then the Feds should have condemned the property, paying the owners to relocate. Maybe they tried and owners refused? Just a shot in the dark from an old retired civil engineer ☺️ BTW, you were looking at a weir which measures and records water flow volume. The instrumentation was in the locked box.

WH i can listen to your storytelling forever … 🙏🏼

Excellent video…great stuff . Blessings up

Another great and interesting video. With regards to the Christian camp and the government diverting their water, it is obvious to anyone with common sense that the government is at fault for diverting the water without compensating the owners. It really doesn't matter that the water had been diverted by a previous owner, the new owners had this water running on their land when they bought it and had a reasonable expectation that they would have continued rights to use that water. These people need to be provided with a new source of water or have the government purchase the land at its value when the water was available. Yes, I know all about the water rights issues and the guy who diverted it in the first place may have done an inappropriate thing, but these new owners did not know this. Rest assured that if a property owner adjacent to federal land did what the government did here, the feds would have jumped in with both feet and a battalion of lawyers. It's all about who has the power. Beautiful and interesting area though.

Where does it stop? Places that are natural are becoming fewer and fewer. Does the world need another christian retreat or casino parking lot? Maybe we can decorate the place with beer cans and Mylar ballons. That natural spring is much more spiritual than some 2 bit western movie set.

I gotta visit this place...Thank you Hussy!!! I just started watching your videos/show. I must say that you have a knack for this...keep up the Great work!👍✌ P.S. maybe Heaven is thru that small opening in the ground🤔

"LIVE AND LET LIVE."....Great narration. Oh yeah, that funnel appears to be a Venturi: used for measuring pressure.

The cats look too well looked after along with the donkeys so some one is living on the property caretaker possibly. In the UK a similar case a few years back went through the courts to the high courts and the property owner won his case using a little known law which over rides all others know as Grandfather rights which meant that the person did it long enough ago that it could not be revoked something like a minimum of twelve years with properties.

Fascinating place. I have passed through on my way to send the holiday weeks at Death Valley NP. Yes to wildlife and not to private recreation at the public expense. If the original owner actually had the right on the water, the story would have been different.

Awesome video Wonderhussy and colorful and enjoying and watching now 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😄👌 awesome video ❤️

9:41-A Patch of Heaven and "Two Mules For Sister Sara!"

I bought land that had a stream through it in winter and was bone dry in summer. I found out that my field was salmon habitat. Every few years the stream would flood, and apparently, salmon could use it as a safe haven. Even though it limited what I could do, I thought that was pretty cool. Then a pipeline company decided that they wanted to build a three-foot natural gas pipeline across my property to export gas from North Dakota to China. Cheney supported it. It took a lot of money and effort to get it stopped. After the threat of the pipeline was squashed, I was able to sell it.

To all viewers PLEASE DO NOT TRESPASS on this PROPERTY it is NOT ABANDONED!!

Maybe next time get some drone footage. Love the glasses and your three stooge comment on the donkeys. It was truly golden. Aloha. 🌺🌸🌴❤️🇺🇸.

That's a great video on the desert as all your video,s I enjoy tham 👍👍