One of the West's greatest and most fragile treasures is under attack.

The Great Basin, which encompasses portions of five western states, including much of Nevada, is being assailed by exotic annual grasses and noxious weeds, as well as the uncharacteristic expansion of native species that threaten the Basin's overall ecological health.

Helping lead the assault is cheatgrass, an aggressive invader from Eurasia that in the Great Basin is especially adept at taking over disturbed areas. A volatile fuel that carries fire quickly, cheatgrass is a primary reason for the Great Basin's downward spiral. In short, the expansion of cheatgrass fuels larger, more catastrophic wildland fires, which in turn fuel the spread of cheatgrass.

Restoring the Great Basin's ecological resiliency will require a concerted, coordinated effort that relies heavily on local partnerships. Lacking that, the Great Basin could reach a point of no return, where the ecologically disastrous slide could not be reversed.

The goal of the Great Basin Restoration Initiative, or GBRI, is to do just that - maintain or restore the Great Basin's native and normally resilient plant communities that in turn provide habitat for livestock, wildlife and wild horses. GBRI is a groundbreaking effort that serves as an umbrella for smaller, similar projects such as the Eastern Nevada Landscape Restoration Project.

The Eastern Nevada Landscape Restoration Project, or ENLRP, aims to restore health to approximately 10-million acres of BLM Ely Field Office-administered public lands in Lincoln, White Pine and a portion of Nye counties.

Partnering with the BLM Ely Field Office to accomplish that goal is a non-profit 501c3 organization entitled Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition, or ENLC. The ENLC is a community-based partnership of 100-plus members representing a broad spectrum of public land users.