Big Dune – Americana Collection
Big Dune in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, is located on United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management-administered lands. In 1998, the BLM designated 11,600 acres around Big Dune as an Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA). BLM identified 1,920 acres of Big Dune as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) to support all species dependent upon dune habitat.
Big Dune – Americana Collection
Radiocarbon dates eolian silts and sands banked up against range flanks of Big Dune at 4,100 years. Big Dune, of Amargosa Valley, Nevada, has no potential for locatable minerals. Prior to 2006, there were 23 mining claims at Big Dune. All of these were removed after it was determined there was no potential for locatable minerals. No mining claims can be filed at Big Dune until the year 2029, because 1,920 acres of land have been closed to mining under Secretarial Order 7737.
Big Dune – Americana Collection
Big Dune cover five square miles of Nevada’s Amargosa Valley at 2623 feet above sea level and is a very sacred place to the Southern Paiute and Numic Speaking peoples that lived in the Mojave Desert. Big Dune is culturally important because it is one of a number of sand dunes in Numic territory that are considered singing sand dunes. From a cultural perspective, the emission of tones and measurable musical notes are a testament that this land feature is alive and it can interact with all elements of the universe.
