Minden's Bently makes present of future

At age 81, Minden businessman and inventor Don Bently finds his future rooted firmly in the past.

To celebrate his birthday earlier this month, he completed a conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy which limits use of Kirman Field to protect specific conservation values.

The easement has been placed over more than 1,000 acres containing extensive willow thickets which are critical breeding bird habitat and have become rare along Western Nevada's rivers.

Bently said his goal is to protect the Carson River.

"It meanders across that field like a snake," he said in a recent interview. "This easement makes sure there won't be development."

The easement gives The Nature Conservancy the right to conduct river restoration on the property.

Beginning at Cradlebaugh Bridge and continuing to the V&T railroad right-of-way just short of the county line with Carson City, the property adjoins four miles of the Carson River.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife and Nevada Division of State Lands each contributed $750,000 for the purchase from resource conservation bonds.

Bently accepted $500,000 less for the easement than the $2 million appraised value.

"Our plans are to leave the river in its natural state," said Laura Crane, river project director for the conservancy. "We just want to let the river run."

She said the conservancy in partnership with Douglas County planned to apply for funds from Question 1, the state's conservation bond.

"Maybe within two years we'll be able to start on actual construction of the trail," she said.

Rather than try to tame the Carson River, the easement makes sure that nature can take its course.

In the meantime, Bently likes to explore Kirman Field for what he says are "old, old artifacts," one reason he agreed to the easement.

"It's a very nice place," he said. "Just looking at the old ditches, you can tell it was intensively farmed until it flooded out."

"The river will be free to move," he said. "It takes hundreds of years."

One day while he was out poking around the site, he was attacked by a flock of owls.

"There were more than a dozen - little, tiny owls," Bently said. "They attacked me and they attacked the truck. They just came out of the deep brush and the deep willows."

During earlier exploration, Bently came upon historic erastras, or grinding stones. The device was used to crush ore to smaller, more useable pieces. The erastra also was used to reduce sandstone into sand which was used for mortar to build houses.

Bently also gave The Nature Conservancy $250,000 which the conservancy is matching to create a $500,000 endowment.

The fund will be used for biological monitoring and scientific studies as well as management of the Kirman Field easement.

One of his other major projects is bringing the Bently Agrowdyamics biofuel production plant on line.

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that contains no sulfur and reduces acid rain, toxic emissions, and greenhouse gasses.

Bently has invested more than $1 million in the plant.

The plant in Minden is to produce biodiesel from recycled cooking oil and canola seed oil. He provides containers, pickup and delivery and pays 40 cents a gallon for discarded cooking oil from establishments in Carson City, Stateline and Carson Valley.

Bently is waiting for American motorists to wake up to the benefits of biodiesel fuel and the reality of global warming.

"The American people are told nothing but garbage," he said. "Biodiesel is the big winner. It takes less energy to produce and is much more efficient."



ON THE WEB

Bently Agrowdynamics

www.bentlyagrowdynamics.com



The Nature Conservancy

www.tnc.org