Jake's Wetland: A place to reflect and refresh

It takes about 10 minutes to stroll the perimeter of Jake's Wetland and Wildlife Meadow, now in the finishing stages at the end of the Martin Slough near Lucerne and Ironwood in Minden.

But that's if visitors don't stop to watch the muskrats swimming in one of three ponds, admire the hundreds of trees and shrubs planted to enhance the eight-acre project, or dodge the goose poop.

What started out as a way to deal with drainage wastewater has evolved into a wildlife viewing area Minden officials hope will help visitors wind down after a hectic day.

"It's been a long-standing goal of the town to preserve the slough area for a passive recreation wildlife viewing area," said town board member Bob Hadfield who helped shepherd the project for a decade.

Along with ranchers who use the Martin Slough for irrigation, the town was faced with how to treat the water quality which has become degraded by decades of urbanization before it empties into the Carson River.

"Knowing the federal government was going to require water treatment and working with ditch users regarding their concerns that everybody was dumping everything in their ditches, we needed to provide an infiltration area for water treatment in Minden at the end of the whole process," Hadfield said.

State funds 'a godsend'

Officials applied for Question 1 grants which became available in 2004.

The town received $950,000 for the project with a May 30 deadline to expend the funds.

Engineer Brenda Stein of EXD Engineering in Minden has been with the project from the beginning when she worked at Resource Concepts Inc. in Carson City.

"Bruce Scott had this brainchild that the Martin Slough would become a greenbelt and that piece of property would be a really good focal point," Stein said.

Scott is an owner of Resource Concepts and the town's engineer.

Stein said because the plan was in place, the town qualified the first year Question 1 funds were available.

"Question 1 is truly a godsend for Nevada," Hadfield said. "The voters creating that, I don't think they fully understood what a good thing they were doing for the state.

"These projects are very expensive and can't be done by single entities, particularly rural communities. We are trying to preserve our agricultural way of life by this project and to have good water to irrigate with."

Sandra Wendel was the landscape architect and much of the work has been done by town employees under the direction of Greg Hill, public works supervisor.

So far, workers and volunteers have planted 120 trees, 750 shrubs and three varieties of pine, set up 2,000 feet of split-rail fence and a 2,500-foot irrigation system.

There are another 800 plants waiting to be picked up at Nevada State Nursery. The day before Mother's Day, members of the Minden Rotary Club helped place sod.

"A number of opportunities were made available to us to create a private- public sector partnership. This is an example of what everybody can do when they work together," Hadfield said.

A place to reflect

In addition to bird watchers, joggers and dog-walkers, the project has attracted muskrats, turtles, frogs and "lots of geese."

"Last week, I saw a family with 18 goslings," Hill said.

Hill said maintenance crews are addressing the goose droppings which are a natural consequence.

"Until we have a solution, I'm just going to give every goose a brush and a dustpan," he joked.

"We're also putting aeration in the ponds to deal with algae and want to make sure mosquitoes are not a problem," Hill said.

Hadfield emphasized that the site is "supposed to be an area to go to after a busy, hectic day or weekend."

Visitors will be advised to stay out of the ponds which are up to 6-feet deep.

"We want people to just walk through it and relax," he said. "It's an open space with very little noise and subdued lighting."

Hadfield said Jake's Wetland and Wildlife Meadow also helps connect Winhaven, a newer part of Minden, to the old part of town.

Town officials had people like Bernie McLelland in mind when they created the project.

Every day, she walks from her home in Gardnerville to Jake's Wetland.

"I love to walk around it," she said. "It's really relaxing and I can't get over how fast they put it together."

That's the exact response designers were hoping for.

"You're in a large outdoor experience, you can see the full vista of the Valley and still be in Minden," Hadfield said.

A tribute to Jake

The project was named in honor of longtime Nevada legislator and Minden resident Lawrence Jacobsen who died last July at age 85.

Plans are in the works for a dedication ceremony later this year.

"He would think it was wonderful," said his wife Betty Jacobsen, who visited the project Wednesday with her son Tim and grandsons Eric Erardy and Bruce, Joey, and Timmy Jacobsen.

Hadfield said he could think of no better person to honor.

"It seemed a fitting and appropriate tribute for a lifetime resident who had been the public representative of this area for so long," Hadfield said. "He loved Minden so much and was so gentle and soft-spoken, it was hard to get him to take credit for anything."

Hadfield said he hoped visitors would get a sense of Jacobsen from visiting the wetlands.

"It's a reflective space where people can get an essence of what the Carson Valley has been which was reflected in the man himself. He is someone who cared about every aspect you see in that park," he said.

"He represented the past, is a very important part of the present, and now he will be forever remembered in the future," Hadfield said.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The Martin Slough rests in the Carson Valley between the Sierra Nevada in the west and the Pinenut Mountain Range in the east. A slough is a place of deep mud or a side channel of a river. This slough originated historically as an irrigation water system branching off from the Carson River, flowing through Gardnerville and Minden, and returning to the East Fork of the Carson River. The water is used by local ranchers for agriculture and cattle. Due to the significant growth in urban development, the Martin Slough now operates as a wetlands filter to balance nutrients in this urban habitat. In 1995, the towns of Minden and Gardnerville joined with the Douglas County school district, local agencies and residents to improve the water quality of the Martin Slough.

Source: Nevada Department of Wildlife