Lots of big land parcels in Nevada, cheap, some with water!

Might be a good place to start a community?

http://www.nvlandman.com/index.html

So, how DO you start a community?

Wondering what the water rights are for those parcels where a creek passes through. It doesn't necessarily mean you can legally use any of that water once it gets in the creek. If I were thinking to buy, I might hire Neil Bertrando or someone he recommends to visit the land with me before making an offer. I'd also check out the tax delinquents in the area, might find a real bargain not being represented by a real estate agent. Also want to know about subsurface mineral rights and easements and not be too close to the UP main line or I-80, way too much risk of hazmat spillage. Don't count on your cell phone working or getting internet service but you could get lucky. Or budget for satellite service.

Great Basin steppe ecotone, more snow than rain. Cold for 6 months out of the year. Elk, deer, pronghorn hunting and trout fishing can't be far if not right on your parcel. The Ruby Mountains south of Elko are gorgeous. Elko, host of a big cowboy poetry festival in January. Used to be some Basque restaurants, legacy from sheepherding immigrants. Reno's not so far if you need medical care, cheap booze or an airport. No state income tax. Pretty far to markets for selling the surplus. It'd be peaceful, that's for sure.

ETA: water comments more for general discussion, Miles I'm sure you are plenty familiar with the oddities of western water rights and the pluses/minuses of rural intermountain living.

I just found that site the other day.

Does northern NV get snow in the winter? (yes, 19 inches a year on average, after some research) We really want someplace with snow. But man, I love that sagebrush desert....

I guess you would do hoop house/greenhouse gardening to extend the growing season? - 9" of rainfall a year and it gets hot in the summer- how much power does a swamp cooler draw?

(yet another edit, post more research)

Okay, I'm sold. WHO WANTS TO SPLIT SOME LAND FOR A LEASE?

C. Hunter wrote:
Does northern NV get snow in the winter? (yes, 19 inches a year on average, after some research) We really want someplace with snow. But man, I love that sagebrush desert....

Snow in the Great Basin doesn't really accumulate. The winter air is so dry it tends to evaporate before it can melt. So it's pretty on the sagebrush and all, but not your winter wonderland accumulation. The good part is there isn't the mud factor like in the east. The bad part is that water is harder to capture for use in the spring.

C. Hunter wrote:
I guess you would do hoop house/greenhouse gardening to extend the growing season? - 9" of rainfall a year and it gets hot in the summer- how much power does a swamp cooler draw?

Love my hoop house, we will eat greens out of it all winter if I manage it right. Already been to 15 deg here. As for swamp coolers, I had one/wanted one at 4500'. Now that I am at 6800', it cools off so much at night that we haven't missed it. The hottest it gets here is 95, and dry. A fan to draw in cool air at night, then button up the house in the morning to hold the cool air works just fine. That's at about 200 miles south of these properties, it will be cooler there yet for the same altitude. Look at Reno's average temps then Elko's (or Salt Lake City and Park City) to see how it drops.

One other thing to plan for in these remote sites is wildfire resiliency. That's true for anywhere in the west, of course, but for some of the properties I looked at, help is hours away. Metal roofing and a proper clearing around your structure can mean the difference between keeping and losing your house. Just another sector to put into your overall plan.

Around here, winter is a pretty good time to drive a hard bargain on property when it's sat on the market all year and taxes are due.

Super cool. *adds to places to visit & check out list* This area just moved to the top of my list. County looks pretty good on zoning and stuff too, if I'm reading things right?

Not to be a curmudgeon but there is a reason the land is cheap. When we looked at land we looked in state with decent political and social climates and that looked somewhat green on a map. Why start out with a water deficit in an arid climate that will be a constant battle with nature to succeed? Nature will prevail. We MUST look at the current environmental conditions AND what is projected to be in 10-30 years. We found nice, relatively inexpensive land in NE Washington state that has a good aquifer that gets replentished each year by Pacific weather systems. However, I wish you the best of luck and good results from your labor.

It depends on your goals, too. mine is more self sufficent, not necessarily or even likely totally self sufficient. It's not terrible country for the right breee of sheep, lightly stocked, or brush goats, and the washes around year round creeks would, I think, support the size food gardenforest I'm interestedin. Some of us are just crqzy and like deserts and sage and jackrabbits.

One of the reasons that I like permies so much is all of the techniques that are showcased here on "greening the deserts".

Seems that there are a few of these parcels that have a lot of water on or running through them. So even without water rights I think that swales and keylining would stop and hold any water that fell in rain and snow. I would even bet that the water table is pretty shallow on some of them, so just need to increase the "sponge". Planting the right grasses, shrubs and trees, would help with building soil and carbon in the soil. Holistic grazing practices with animals would also help build the soil.

So I think if a group of folks wanted a good place to really test out permaculture one of these places would be pretty neat.

just bought a house on 8 acres south of battle mountain.  want land in eureka county to eventually go completely off grid so this will be like a basecamp when we get to that point.  for me i wanted a place i could add some love to and make it a little better.  got a pretty bare canvas to experiment and learn and see what works with mother nature here,  i don't want someone else's permaculture paradise,  that would kind of defeat the purpose for me.  i want to grow hand in hand with the ground i am living on and from.