James F. KasermanSarah J. Kaserman

NNeevvaaddaa

I Save A TreeElectronic Books

"All for our country"

Carson City

C 2003 I Save A Tree Inc.

The United States of America

ISBN# 0-9714299-1-X

Table of Contents

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Location 5

History before statehood 7

History since statehood 9

State government 11

State flag 13

Current facts 15

Industry today 17

State landmarks 19

Weather and land 21

Animals in Nevada 23

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State bird 25

State tree 27

State flower 29

Famous people from Nevada 31

Things to do in Nevada 33

Popular sports in Nevada 35

Fast facts 37

Glossary 39

Web sites / books for information 41

Index 43

Credits 45

Location

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Carson City

Nevada is a Rocky Mountain state.To the north, Oregon and Idaho formthe northern border with Nevada. Tothe east is Utah. Arizona lies to thesoutheast and California is to thesouth and west

Carson City is the capital of Nevada.Carson City is located on the westernside of Nevada near Lake Tahoe.

HistoryBefore Statehood

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Silver mine

Fur pelts

Spanish missionary Francisco Garcesexplored Nevada in 1775 and 1776. Furtraders and trappers followed in 1825.

The Old SpanishTrail opened theregion to trade in1830. After theMexican War in1848, Nevadabecame part of theUnited States.

In 1850, it becamepart of the UtahTerritory.The discovery ofsilver in 1859,brought thousands of prospectors toVirginia City to mine the ComstockLode. In 1861, Congress created theNevada Territory.

HistorySince Statehood

Hoover Dam

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Las Vegas

On October 31, 1864, Nevadabecame a state. During the 1860s, thefirst transcontinental railroad wascreated when the Central Pacific metthe Union Pacific tracks in Utah. By 1880most of thesilver in thestate had beenmined, turningmany Nevadamines and

towns intoghost towns.During WorldWar I, the stateprospered fromthe demand forminerals. TheHoover Dam was constructed toprovide water to farmers and ranchersin 1936. Las Vegas became a gamblingresort.

Government

Governor Kenny Guinn

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Public defender

The state government of Nevadais divided into three branches.Governor Kenny Guinn is head of the

executive branch.This branch is incharge of carryingout the laws. Thelegislature has twoparts, the Senate andAssembly.

The third branchis the judicialbranch. This branchinterprets the laws.

Nevada has 16counties. Each hasa local government. Under Nevadalaw, Boards of County Commissionersgovern the counties.

State Flag

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The Nevadastate flag wasadopted in 1929.The flag has alarge blue fieldwith a banner in the upper left cornerthat says "Battle Born" to show thatNevada became a state during theCivil War. Below the banner is afive-pointed silver star between two

sprays of sagebrush, the state flower,crossed to form a half wreath."Nevada" is written aroundthe lowerpoints of thestar.

Current Facts

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Casino

Nevada landscape

Over 1,998,257 people live in Nevada. The state is ranked the 35th largest state for the number of people living in it. Nevada covers 109,806

square miles.It is ranked the 7th largest state in total area in the United States. The United States Government owns over 70 percent of Nevada.

IndustryToday

Gold mold

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Printing press

Nevada minesproduce largequantities ofgold, silver,copper andmercury.Nevada is the

largest gold producing state.Nevada is the gambling capital of

the U.S. and a leading entertainmentcenter. Large resorts attract visitorsfrom all parts of the world to

Las Vegas and Reno. Other industriesinclude the manufacture of machinery,printing and publishing and foodprocessing. Agricultural productsincludelivestock, barley,oats, hay,potatoes andwheat.

Landmarks

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Fossils

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Hoover Dam

The Berlin-ichtyosaurs StatePark is in NyeCounty. Visitorscan see manyfossils of huge prehistoric fish-reptiles. Hoover Dam is about 25 milessoutheast of Las Vegas. It is one of theworld's largest dams, standing 726 feettall. It was completed in 1936.

Lake Meade is one of the largestman-made lakes. It was formedwhen Hoover Dam was built acrossthe ColoradoRiver. GeyserBasin has activegeysers, hotsprings andbubbling mud.

Weather & Land

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Cactus

River canyon

January temp-eratures average24° to 43° Fahren-heit. July temp-eratures rangefrom 70° to 86°.The wettest part

of the state receives about 40 inches ofprecipitation, while the driestspot gets less than 4. The averageis 7.4 inches, making Nevada one ofour driest states.

Most of Nevada's rivers are small andrun only from December to June, thewet season. Rugged mountain rangeswith buttes andmesas run northand south. In thesouth lies theMojave Desertand the ColoradoRiver Canyon.

Animals

In Nevada

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Antelope

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White pelican

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Only a few large animals live inNevada. They include bighorn sheep,the state animal, as well as mule deerand antelope. The smaller animals inNevada include badgers, coyotes,

foxes, minks,marmots,muskrats,porcupines,rabbits andraccoons.

Many differentkinds of lizardsand snakes livein the deserts.Hundreds ofwhite pelicanslive in PyramidLake, as well as many other gamebirds. Bass, carp, catfish, crappies andmany kinds of trout swim in Nevada'sstreams and lakes.

State Bird

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Bluebird

Bluebird

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The mountainbluebird (Sialiaartica) was namedthe state bird in

1967. It is about seven inches long andhas a blue coat with white underfeathers.

The bluebird's nest is usually in ahollow tree or crevice. Bluebirds arevery neat andcarry away theirwaste somedistance fromthe nest.

State Tree

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Pinyon pine cones

Bristlecone

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Nevada has twostate trees: Thesingle-leaf pinyon(Pinus monophylla),adopted in 1953,and the bristlecone

pine (Pinus aristata), adopted in 1987.The pinyon pine cones contain seedscalled pine nuts. Single-leaf pinyonsgot the name from their single needles.

Bristleconepines are said tobe the oldest liv-ing organisms onEarth, with some trees being over3,000 years old. Typically, they'refound clinging to windy ridges in theGreat Basin National Park at highaltitudes.

State Flower

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Sagebrush

Sagebrush

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The sagebrush(Artemisiatridentata) isnamed the stateflower. It is

a bushy plant that grows in the dryparts of the western United States.It has a straight, stiff stem.

The leaves are small and grow closetogether. The flower of the sagebrushmay be white or yellow. The flower isat the top of thestem and is madeup of manyflowers calledflorets. Thesagebrush has asweet smell anda bitter taste.

Famous People

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Pat Nixon

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Andre Agassi

Thelma "Pat" Nixon, wife of formerPresident RichardNixon, was born inEly, Nevada. Tennisstars Andre Agassiand Jack Kramer are

from Las Vegas.Countless famousentertainers andstars visit Las Vegasregularly and many have homes there.

Things to Do

In Nevada

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Old gold mine

Valley of Fire

Nevada has large entertainment resorts with great shows and activities. The state has snow-capped mountains forskiing, hiking and snowmobile ridingand lakes and streams for fishing,boating and swimming. Nevada has several national and state parks.

The largest state park is the Valley of Fire. The rocks there have been wornto odd shapes. The most famous is Elephant Rock.There are manymining townsand a numberof ghost towns to visit.

SportsIn Nevada

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Boxing

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NASCAR

Boxing and wrestling matches areheld in many of the resorts in LasVegas. The Las Vegas Speedway hosts

both NASCARand open-wheelIRL races eachyear. The UNLVRunning Rebels

are one ofcollegebasketball'snationalpowerhouseteams. The University of Nevada LasVegas (UNLV) and the University ofNevada at Reno field teams inall sports at the college level.

Fast Facts

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Governor: Kenny GuinnCapital: Carson CitySize: 109,806 square miles, 7th in the U.S.Population: 1,998,257 people, 35th inthe U.S.Major cities: Las Vegas, Reno, North LasVegas, Henderson, Sparks, Carson CityNickname: "Silver State"State animal: bighorn sheepState bird: mountain bluebirdState flower: sagebrushState tree: single-leaf pinon andbristlecone pineState song: "Home Means Nevada"State motto: "All For Our Country"

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Badger

Rock formation

Glossary

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banner, a flag of a nation, state or armybearing a motto or legend.butte, an isolated hill or mountain,usually having a flat top, rising abruptlyabove the surrounding land.commissioner, a member of a commissionelected to perform certain duties.entertainment, the act of entertaining orthe pleasure of being entertained,amused or pleased.mesa, a land formation having a flat topand steep rock walls.

minerals, various natural substancessuch as gold, silver, oil or coal.resort

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a popular place where peoplego to relax or enjoy recreation.wreath, a circular band of flowers

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foliage or any ornamental work, for adecorative purpose.

Links & BooksFor more information

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Link1Link2Link3Link4

Visit our website @ www.isaveatree.com

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Title: The World Book EncyclopediaPublisher: World Book, Inc.Copyright: 2002

Title: The Kid's World Almanac of theUnited StatesAuthor: Dr.Thomas G. AylesworthPublisher: World AlmanacCopyright: 1990

Title: Exploring the 50 StatesAuthor: Marcie AndersonPublisher: Willowisp Press, Inc.Copyright: 1983

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Index _______________________

44

antelope, 23

bluebird, mountain, 25

Carson City, 5

Donald Duck Rock, 34

Hoover Dam, 10, 20

Guinn, Kenny, 11

Las Vegas, 10, 18, 19, 31, 35

mining, 34

pine, bristlecone, 27, 28

pinyon, single-leaf, 27, 28

railroad, 9

sagebrush, 14, 29, 30

sheep, bighorn, 23

silver, 8, 9, 17

Credits

_______________________46I Save A Tree Inc. reserves the right to remove or exchange any

photo/illustration at any time without notice.

Written by

James F. Kaserman

Sarah J. Kaserman

Produced by

Robert Rance

Technologies

Doug Meyers

Design

Dan Mader

Edited by

Linda Coyner

Photo creditsNevada Department of NaturalResourceswww.arttoday.com