About 51 friends of Silver Saddle Ranch, including some new comers, showed up Saturday morning for a cleanup day at the historic site and wildlife preserve east of Carson City.
They were rewarded with a barbecue lunch for their morning labors as well as the good feeling that goes with the completion of a job well done.
"This is the first time we've done something like this on this large of a scale of event," said event organizer Michael Bish.
The event was sponsored by Friends of Silver Saddle Ranch. The organization is a year old and has 31 members.
"We picked up a few more today," Bish said at the end of the day.
The workers, which included a group from Carson City Middle School, checked on wood duck boxes and found at least three with signs of use. Other work groups weeded and pruned along the Mexican Ditch Trail, weeded the vegetable garden and cleaned inside the buildings of the ranch.
The Silver Saddle Ranch is one of the last remaining Carson City farms still intact from the early days of settlement in the area, Bish said.
The 703 acres and buildings of the ranch are owned and maintained by the Bureau of Land Management with help from volunteers.
"By themselves, (the buildings) are not historically significant, but together it is significant," Bish said. "It could still be a working ranch."
The Silver Saddle Ranch has added significance as a main link in a major wildlife corridor in the state.
Friends of the Silver Saddle Ranch meet on the first Saturday of alternate months to talk about what's been happening at the ranch, plan work days and for special events.
Oct. 5 is the next meeting and will begin at 7 p.m. at the ranch. A representative from the Fleischmann Planetarium will be on hand with a telescope to show and talk about what's visible in the night sky.
For more information, call Bish at 884-1570 or the BLM office at 885-6000.