In remote northern Washoe County, at the edge of the Black Rock Desert, the Iveson Ranch was family owned for decades, operating as a wildlife preserve and bed and breakfast. 

A year-round creek flows through the 320-acre property north of Gerlach dotted with mature free trees, a smattering of residences and wide-open views of the Hualapai Valley.

But the ranch sold earlier this year to a mysterious limited liability company listed as BRDR Properties, LLC, and its new owner has a different vision for the property that includes testing small-scale explosives and flying drones.

If all Washoe County permits are approved, small-scale explosions will be authorized to take place about 11 miles from the Black Rock Playa, site of the annual Burning Man celebration, and 6 miles from iconic Fly Geyser.

Most of the explosions will be the size of blasting caps, according to Mike Arth, general manager of Iveson Ranch. But, because the work is regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, it’s “created a sense we’re doing a lot of big bombs,” he said during a presentation at a Nov. 13 Gerlach Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting.

The proposal has drawn criticism from Gerlach residents, Black Rock visitors and wildlife advocates concerned about noise, air and water quality. 

But others are more optimistic. 

“It is bringing in economic opportunity to Gerlach that is not offered through any other avenue. We’ve had people traipse through here for years and years … without offering us a benefit,” said former Gerlach CAB member Elisabeth Gambrell. “So do I welcome them? Sure. Suddenly they’re bringing the 21st century into my community.” 

Public benefits versus downsides

The closest residence to Iveson Ranch is more than a mile away and most of the surrounding land is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). And, with an attached airstrip that can transport scientists to the site by airplane, its remote location makes it ideal for testing, according to the project applicant. 

The ranch will store up to 2,000 pounds of explosive material at a time because of the expense of transporting it to the site, but the tests will generally be small, Arth said, ranging from 1 ounce to 10 pounds of explosives per test. 

The materials used for the explosions are known compounds being tested for reliability and effectiveness, Arth told Gerlach residents at the Nov. 13 meeting. Scientists will not be testing new materials or flying munitions on drones. 

“That’s something much more appropriately done at a military test facility,” Arth said, who spent 15 years as a military pilot. 

Arth doubled down on that point at a Nov. 20 presentation to the Washoe County Planning Commission, where he emphasized that the company does not focus exclusively on defense munitions, that the ranch will not serve as a training area with frequent explosions or blasts and that the majority of what will be tested is less than 1 gram of explosives in a blasting cap.

“The public benefits to this project far outweigh the downsides,” he said, noting that the company’s work could benefit war-torn countries such as Ukraine, although he didn’t specify how; he also did not explicitly lay out potential local benefits. 

Gerlach CAB member Kristi Evans said those benefits come in the form of jobs. 

“The fact that this economic activity is of benefit to our community … It’s an important piece of this that we need to weigh out,” she said after Arth spoke. “Every project has a cost and benefit, but that's a real benefit for our community.”

Wildlife advocates disagreed the benefits outweighed the costs, with concerns ranging from what effects the noise from explosions would have on bighorn sheep restoration efforts to impacts to mule deer migration. 

“We do need to find a good balance between innovation and technology and businesses that seeks to make Nevada a leader in commerce, but our state wildlife shouldn’t suffer because of this,” said Evan McQuirk, president of the Nevada Bighorns Unlimited Reno Chapter, said at the Nov. 20 meeting, adding that it would be “irresponsible” to approve the permit. 

The planning commission ultimately approved the request for a supplemental use permit on a 5-2 vote. County commissioners must still vote on one segment of the multifaceted permit pertaining to hazardous materials, although if the project is appealed, the commissioners will reconsider the entire permit, according to Washoe County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale. 

Who owns BRDR, LLC? 

Despite the company’s claims that test explosions at the site will be small, some people still expressed concerns.

“It’s what they are not telling us that is concerning,” longtime Gerlach resident Dave Cooper said. “There are many unknowns.”

One of those unknowns is who the owner of BRDR is.

At the Nov. 13 meeting, Arth said the owner of the ranch is “an early-stage startup” but that company leaders aren’t yet ready to reveal the company’s name to the public.

“We kind of want to tell our story on our terms,” Arth said. “You’re all going to know in a couple of years.”

Gerlach residents responded with grumbles of discontent. In the community of just over 50 residents where everybody knows each other, the lack of transparency over who owns the company was called “disingenuous” and “gross.”

Arth originally told The Nevada Independent via text that he’d be “happy to chat” but in an ensuing email, he said that BRDR is “doing no press engagements at this time.” 

Second Gerlach-area ranch for sale 

The debate over the use of Iveson Ranch isn’t the first time Washoe County officials are facing flak for issuing permits that would alter the face of the Gerlach area. 

Several years ago, Ormat Technologies proposed two new geothermal plants, overhead powerlines and several miles of above-ground pipeline for the region; it withdrew that plan in 2020. 

The company instead moved forward with a smaller plan to drill more than a dozen test wells around Gerlach. The project would have located 150-foot-tall wells just hundreds of feet from private property on the western edge of the Black Rock Playa. 

Burning Man Project and Gerlach residents appealed permits issued by Washoe County, and county commissioners ultimately rescinded a permit necessary for Ormat to move forward with the project. The case ultimately ended up in court, with the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe and environmental groups joining in a lawsuit against the BLM for permitting the project. Ormat and Burning Man settled the disagreement last year outside of court. 

Gambrell, the former Gerlach advisory board member open to the project, questioned why wildlife advocates are coming after the Iveson Ranch project while having remained largely silent when Ormat proposed the geothermal expansion.

“I’m wondering where all this energy was when the geothermal wanted to drill,” she said at the Nov. 20 meeting. “I don’t understand why the drama is now. They’re doing it by the book. They’re coming and talking to us.” 

Some of Ormat’s geothermal wells would have butted against property featuring multiple Yellowstone-esque hot springs known as the Great Boiling Springs, which have been the site of testing for UNLV researchers funded by NASA to better understand the origin of life on Earth. That 130-acre parcel at the west edge of Gerlach is now up for sale for $18 million.

The property owners declined to speak with The Nevada Independent.