Nellis Air Force Base Complex
The Nellis Air Force Base 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. Initiated by a 1939 military reconnaissance for a bombing range, federal acquisition began in 1940, and McCarren Field became the World War II training area's 1st of 3 Nevada World War II Army Airfields 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 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 The complex includes 2 Salt Deserts—in the Coal Valley which has 3 sites of the "ADA activity area" and in Dry Lake Valley. The highest ecoregion is in the Tonopah Bombing Range 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, and the area was used for the 1900–1921 silver rush The region of mining claims was grouped into numbered geographic areas which are used for current names, e.g., "Area 3 Compound" and "Groom Lake Field". The 1941-9 demarcation between the Tonopah & Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Ranges 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, A3", and "is composed of the Desert MOA, with overlying Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace, Reveille North and South MOA and ATCAA, Restricted Areas":- Desert MOA: "subdivided into Sally Corridor, Elgin, Caliente, and Coyote training areas."
- Reveille Airspace: North and South MOA
- Restricted Areas : 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."
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, Ash 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
| Area | Location | Facilities/sites | Agency | Years | Size |
| Nevada Test and Training Range—shares ~ of the Southern Range with the DNWR | Northern Range: Southern Range: southern Tikaboo Valley, Dogbone Dry Lake in Range 62, | Northern: Tolich Peak ECR, Tonopah ECR Southern: Point Bravo ECR, Dogbone Lake G&BR, Groom Lake Field in Area 51 | USAF | 1942–present | |
| Nevada National Security Site •includes Camp Desert Rock FUDS of J09NV0276 | Frenchman Flat, Jackass Flats, Yucca Flat, Rainer & Pahute Mesas, | 10 heliports, 2 "wild horse units... Unit 252 Unit 253", Pahute Mesa Airstrip, Desert Rock Airport, "Yucca Lake UAV testing facility", "Yucca Mountain Underground Facility", :File:NTS - Big Explosives Experimental Facility.jpg|Big Explosives Experimental Facility, :File:Device Assembly Facility.jpg|Criticality Experiments Facility, former Base Camp Mercury | DOE | 1951–present | ~ |
| Desert National Wildlife Refuge land east of the NTTR | FUDS: Former NAFR Areas B-G, e.g., Area F of | USFWS | 1936–present | ||
| Tonopah Bombing Range * | Stone Cabin, Hot Creek, Railroad, Tikaboo, and Sand Springs valleys | USFWS National Wildlife Refuge of ~ at the Kawich Range, Rachel community, Area 51 viewing areas | BLM | 1942–19xx | ~ |
| Tonopah Rifle Range | "Sand -Tikaboo Valleys" | 1941-tbd | |||
| Area A | north and northeast of NTTR | former ranges 46-56 "returned to public domain" by 1941 EO9019 and 1957 EO10355 | BLM | ~ | |
| Tonopah Test Range | "Cactus and Gold Flats, Kawich Valley, Goldfield Hills, and the Stonewall Mountains", Cactus Flat, Antelope Lake Valley | Tonopah Test Range Airport, Operations Control Center, Area 10 airfield/strip, Mellan Airstrip, | DOE | 1957–present | ~ |
| Humboldt National Forest | "Total Acreage" includes "217,086" acres not federally-owned | ||||
| Wildhorse Management Area | bordered on 3 sides by the NTTR Northern Range and on the north, Tonopah Bombing Range | BLM | |||
| Nellis Air Force Base | Las Vegas Valley adjacent to North Las Vegas | Area I: Airport, "Nellis Control", Suter Hall Area II: former Lake Mead Base Area III: Armory, family housing | USAF | 1941-6, 1947–present | |
| 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 " on west and north | active area: inactive : | USAF tbd | 1941–present 1941-65 | |
| Tonopah Air Force Base | BLM | 1942–195x | |||
| Creech Air Force Base | adjacent to Indian Springs, Nevada and FUDS J09NV0399 | Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence UAV-Logistic and Training Facility | USAF | 1942-5, | |
| Patriot "Radar/Communications activity area", part of eastern DNWR | Coal V, Delamar V, Dry Lake V, Pahranagat V, Sand Springs V, Six Mile Flat, | Logistics Support Area at Alamo Airfield & 13 sites each
| BLM | 2008–present | + |
| Las Vegas Air Force Station Lathrop Wells radar site Red Mountain VORTAC site FAA radar facility Former GATR & Soviet radar site | west of Indian Springs near Boulder City, Nevada in Esmeralda Co. "near the former" TAFS | 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 | ~15 miles south of Indian Springs on US95 | 12 small arms ranges, MOUT village, bare base tent city, maneuver area | - | ||
| Tonopah VORTAC | near Nye County's Tonopah Airport | FAA | |||
| Hawthorne Bomb Plot | Babbitt, Nevada | former ":Category:United States automatic tracking radar stations|USAF Radar Station" for RBS | USAF US Navy | 1962–1985 1993 | |
| Delamar Dry Lake Test Annex | Delamar Valley | ||||
| Sunrise Mountain Machine Gun Range | |||||
| "North Las Vegas Station" near Nellis AFB "Key Pittman WMA station" | average precipcipitation/year " | Climatology monitoring sites | NOAA | 1951–present 1964–present |