In 2009 the federal Bureau of Land Management acquired a 69-acre parcel between Davis Regional County Park and Bowers Mansion County Park pursuant to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA), which was enacted in 1998. This protects environmentally sensitive land including lower Ophir Creek and two specially designated species that require wetland or flowing water habitat, the Carson Silverspot butterfly (Speyeria nokomis carsonensis) and the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa). It also includes the historic Ophir Flume, built in 1856 by Mormon settlers, which still carries water from Ophir Creek to ranches in the southwestern Washoe Valley.
