Editing Beatty, Nevada (section)

==Economy==
[[File:Beatty (Nevada), Main Street.jpg|thumb|Downtown Beatty in 2012]] Early businesses in Beatty included the Montgomery Hotel, built by a mine owner in 1905,<ref name="McCracken 48-49"/> and freight businesses first centered on horse-drawn wagons and later on railroads serving the mining towns in the Bullfrog district.<ref>McCracken, ''History'', pp. 52–59</ref>  Beatty became the economic center for a large sparsely populated region. Aside from mining, other activities sustaining the community during the 1920s and 1930s included retail sales, gas and oil distribution, construction of [[Scotty's Castle]], and the production and sale of illegal alcohol during [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]].<ref>McCracken, ''History'', p. 74</ref>

Nevada's legalization of [[gambling]] in 1931, the establishment of Death Valley National Monument in 1933, and the rise of Las Vegas as an entertainment center, brought visitors to Beatty, which became increasingly tourist-oriented.<ref name="McCracken 101-02">McCracken, ''History'', pp. 101–02</ref>

As underground mining declined in the region, federal defense spending, starting with the [[Nellis Air Force Range]] in 1940 and the Nevada Test Site in 1950, also contributed to the local economy.<ref name="McCracken 101-02"/> However, in 1988, an [[Open-pit mining|open-pit mine]] and mill began operations about {{convert|4|mi|km}} west of Beatty along State Route 374. [[Barrick Gold]] acquired the mine in 1994 and continued to extract and process ore at what became known as the Barrick Bullfrog Mine.<ref name ="Hustrulid">{{cite book|last = Kump |first = Dan |author2=Arnold, Tim |editor=Hustrulid, William A. |editor2=Bullock, Richard L. | title = Underground Mining Methods |chapter=Underhand Cut-and-Fill at the Barrick Bullfrog Mine | publisher = Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration | location = Littleton, Colo.  |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N9Xpi6a5304C&pg=PA345 |pages=345–50 |isbn=978-0-87335-193-5}}</ref> At its peak, the mine employed 540&nbsp;workers, many of whom lived in Beatty.<ref name ="McCracken 155-57">McCracken, ''History'', pp. 155–57</ref> The mine closed in 1998.<ref name ="Hustrulid"/>

In 2004, the federal [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) named the closed Barrick Bullfrog mine site as one of six slated for pilot reclamation projects under the national Brownfields Mine-Scarred Land Initiative. A local group, the Beatty Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), in discussions with the EPA, suggested solar-power generation as a potential use for the site.<ref>{{cite web  | title = U.S. EPA Selects Former Nye County Gold Mine for National Brownfields Pilot  | publisher = United States Environmental Protection Agency   | date =  May 18, 2004  | url = http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/a883dc3da7094f97852572a00065d7d8/60f256158d5cb5e0852570d8005e1643!OpenDocument  | access-date = March 23, 2009}}</ref> Barrick Gold later transferred {{convert|81|acres|ha}} of its land to Beatty.<ref name = "Streater"/> In February 2009, the ''New York Times'' published a [[Environment and Energy Publishing|Greenwire]] article suggesting that part of the economic stimulus money from the $787&nbsp;billion [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] might finance the Beatty project. "Studies show that the Beatty area has some of the best solar energy potential in the United States, as well as a high potential for wind-power generation," the Greenwire story said.<ref name = "Streater">{{cite news | author = Streater, Scott | title =Polluted Mines as Economic Engines? Obama Admin Says 'Yes' | work = New York Times  |publisher = E&E Publishing| date = February 26, 2009 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/02/26/26greenwire-polluted-mines-as-economic-engines-obama-admin--9896.html?pagewanted=1&%2334&%2359;&emc=eta1 | access-date = March 23, 2009}}</ref>

The Beatty Chamber of Commerce web site describes the community as the ''Gateway to Death Valley'', a small rural locality that has "everything the desert visitor needs" including motels and [[recreational vehicle]] (RV) sites.<ref name = "Adventure">{{cite web | title = Beatty, Nevada: Where Adventure Awaits You | publisher = Beatty Chamber of Commerce | year = 2007 | url = http://www.beattynevada.org/ | access-date = June 4, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100522130501/http://www.beattynevada.org/| archive-date= 22 May 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Aside from tourism, businesses contributing to the local economy include mining, retail trade, public administration and gambling.<ref>{{cite web|title= Beatty Community Profile|publisher = Beatty Chamber of Commerce|url = http://www.beattynevada.org/community.htm|access-date = June 4, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100522135722/http://www.beattynevada.org/community.htm| archive-date= 22 May 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>