Residents who enjoy taking nature hikes amid waterfowl and birds will have a place in Sparks for their excursions in the near future.

The nonprofit Kiley Ranch Preservancy Foundation (KRPF) has received a $1.7 million grant to create a wildlife preserve in Spanish Springs. The money will protect 215 acres of wetlands and uplands in Spanish Springs, near Vista Boulevard and Los Altos Parkway. When completed, the preserve will offer trails, interpretive signage and play host to certain species of birds.

“It’s such a great opportunity to showcase the notion of preserving open space in and amongst a very rapidly developing area,” said Stacey Crowley, KRPF vice president.

However, the area will not be open to the public for at least another year, possibly two, according to Crowley. Even with the grant, there is much work left to do.

Members of the foundation are excited to protect one of the few remaining wetland areas in Nevada’s desert landscape.

The Spanish Springs area is rich with biodiversity and collects the water that makes the land a suitable habitat for multiple species of wildlife, Crowley said.

“There are a couple of areas on the preserve we know to be viable habitats,” Crowley said. “It’s the whole system – the wetlands supply, the upland area’s ability to grow roots, wet soil, the salt grass – they all combine with a nectar source and it makes it ideal.”

Crowley added that one such animal was the Carson wandering skipper, an endangered butterfly of which two were spotted in the area in 2005.

The preserve is located in the southern area of Spanish Springs, with the Kiley Ranch community to the west, Pioneer Meadows to the north, Vista Boulevard to the east and the Spanish Springs Flood Detention Dam to the south.

“It is a low point in the valley, so it is a natural place for water to go,” Crowley said. “Forever it’s been private property and there are signs and fencing that indicate ‘no trespassing.’ The next step of the Kiley Ranch Preservancy Foundation is to get a plan together to manage the water and wetlands and to manage the invasive white top (weeds), but also to create a trail system. And that trail system would be open to the public for bird viewing and a general nature area.”

The foundation has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct site visits.

The physical work of the project will be maintained by the foundation’s board and any consultants it hires, according to Crowley, with the possibility of hiring full-time management in the future.

Crowley said the Spanish Springs wetlands area will be unique compared to similar projects.

“There’s a Swan Lake preserve near Red Rock … that is very similar in style, but I think the uniqueness of this will be that it’s adjacent to a highly dense community and all those other developments,” Crowley said.

Tina Nappe, a conservationist on the KRPF board, said the land is essential for wildlife and its location in an urban area is important.

“Wetlands are literally islands in a desert,” Nappe said. “If birds don’t have these places, they’re forced to fly over and may not have the energy. This property is really important and it’s partly valuable because so many developers were helping to preserve it.”

The grant comes from the State Question 1 bond fund from November’s ballot, as well as a matching donation from the Kiley family. The $1.7 million only covers the land acquisition, Nappe said. Now the foundation will be going door to door to seek community support for maintenance.

Nappe credited KRPF president Paul Curtis and the Kiley family for their contributions to the preserve and said much work lies ahead of the board to prepare the preserve for public use and as a home for wildlife.

“I think it’s very unusual in that it’s a positive participation from the business community, which came together and saw a way to create something,” Nappe said. “They weren’t forced to do it. They saw it as an opportunity. … Maybe buying (the land) was the easiest part.”