The 10,000 Year Clock

In 01999 The Long Now Foundation purchased desert mountain land adjoining the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada as a potential Clock site. The property includes 180.3 acres on Mount Washington, made up of eleven patented mining claims dating back to 01916, as well as a 60 acre ranch property in Spring Valley purchased in 02005.

Most of the two-mile-long swath of mountain land is covered by a forest of ancient bristlecone pine trees. Bristlecones are considered the world's oldest living thing. One tree in the Snake Range was determined to be over 4,900 years old.

The purchase of the mountain property from National Treasure Mines Inc. was made possible by donations from three high-tech pioneers---the Mitchel Kapor Foundation (Kapor founded Lotus), the Jay Walker family (Walker founded Priceline.com), and Bill Joy (one of the founders of Sun Microsystems).

"This is a timeless landscape," said Brand, describing the high desert terrain, "and the remarkable people here reflect that. That's the attraction. We have to be careful to protect that, just as Great Basin National Park does."

A number of individuals in White Pine County helped The Long Now Foundation find a promising mountain for the Clock. Realtor Dave Tilford engineered the land purchase. Karen Rajala, chair of the Economic Diversification Council, organized the meeting in Ely where the land purchase was made public.

Long Now is committed to developing this site as a 10,000 year installation in parallel with The 10,000 Year Clock in Texas.