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KUNC is among the founding partners of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of public media stations that serve the Western states of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Former Nuclear Lands Now Protecting Wildlife

The border of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, as seen from U.S. 95 in Nevada. This land sits near where atomic testing used to take place.
Noah Glick
The border of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, as seen from U.S. 95 in Nevada. This land sits near where atomic testing used to take place.

Wild animals are protected within dozens of wildlife refuges across the Mountain West. But some of those areas are contaminated, because they used to be nuclear sites.

The Desert National Wildlife Refugein Nevada is one of the largest wildlife refuges in the country, and it's also the largest remaining intact habitat for Desert Bighorn Sheep. But, it sits right next to the Nevada Test Site, a famous atomic bomb testing area.

"We are concerned about potential contaminants, primarily from the past testing on the nuclear site. We don't know how that's impacting the sheep at this point," says Kevin DesRoberts, who manages the refuge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This particular refuge is only next to contaminated land. The Associated Press recently did an analysis of six former nuclear sites that are now converted to wildlife refuges, with two of those in the Mountain West. The study found that plants and animals are flourishing there, because public access has been cut off.

The analysis also found that more than $57 billion have been spent cleaning up the six sites, but there's little research to show what, if any, health risks remain.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2020 KUNR Public Radio. To see more, visit .

Noah Glick is from the small town of Auburn, Indiana and comes to KUNR from the Bay Area, where he spent his post-college years learning to ride his bike up huge hills. He’s always had a love for radio, but his true passion for public radio began when he discovered KQED in San Francisco. Along with a drive to discover the truth and a degree in Journalism from Ball State University, he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to local news coverage.
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