Just a yard shy of 11,000 feet in elevation, Mount Grafton soars above the Cave Valley in eastern Nevada, scooping snow from the clouds and piling it high as winter progresses. This spurs a flood of wildlife down Grafton's flanks in the form of hundreds of elk, bighorn sheep and mule deer.​

​

They descend through thousand-year-old bristlecone pines into stands of aspens, which in turn give way to scattered pinyons and junipers amid a sea of sage, rocky spires and cliff-strewn canyons. This ruggedness discourages all but the hardiest souls to chase game here on the western edge of 78,754-acre Mount Grafton Wilderness - one of Nevada's largest untracked landscapes.

​

By the time deer, elk and the occasional bighorn join Cave Valley's pronghorn and sage grouse, they are in good company indeed, for the valley bottom is also home to the Cave Valley Ranch. Cattle grazing on the ranch is tightly controlled to enhance habitat for wildlife rather than degrade it - a point of deep pride for owners Bill and Shannon McBeath.

​

In March 2013, the McBeath's assigned a 1,480-acre conservation easement to the Elk Foundation, which forever protects key habitat. Heightening its value for elk and other wildlife, the easement borders the Mount Grafton Wilderness, including five isolated inholdings totaling more than 400 acres inside the wilderness boundary.

​

In this arid landscape, state biologists have long noted this ranch's value for wildlife. The ranch owners are avid sportsmen and RMEF members, and delight in the fact that their land provides critical year-round habitat for 500 elk, 100 antelope, 75 mule deer, and is particularly vital to nesting and brood-rearing sage grouse. The easement prohibits subdivision and will help protect the integrity of Cave Valley and the Mount Graphton Wilderness. 

​

-Paul Queneau