U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials came to town last week to present new ideas for the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Warm Springs (Input Sought On Expansion of Warm Springs Refuge; 8/13/08). Among other things, the plan proposed to increase the planning boundaries for the 116-acre Refuge by an additional 1500 acres. This would include virtually all of the lands on either side of the Muddy River throughout the entire Warm Springs area. How times have changed! Thirty years ago, the land that the current Refuge inhabits was the most precious jewel in the crown of the Moapa Valley community. Today most local residents view the area with a tired resignation and an acid apathy. Sadly, the general feeling is that there is not much of Warm Springs left to lose that hasn’t already been lost. How have we reached this sad state of affairs?
Warm Springs was once an attractive and popular resort area. This emerald oasis in the desert; with its numerous swimming pools, lush shady foliage and attractive recreational facilities; drew people from throughout the region, and far beyond, to play here. These resorts were a major element in the local economy and they held untold potential for future commercial growth in the area.
But all of that changed in the late 1970s with the passage of the federal Endangered Species Act. One of the many species listed as endangered was the Moapa dace, a tiny fish which is found only in the source spring waters of the Upper Muddy. In September 1979, the USFWS succeeded in acquiring a very popular 30 acre Warm Springs resort property. This land, now called the Pederson Unit, formed the beginning of the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Later, additional property acquisitions were made to increase the size of the Refuge to its current 116 acres.
It is, perhaps, bitterly ironic that these precious lands were wrested from private ownership; wherein the public was always welcome; to be put under public management; where the public was immediately thrown off and the gate was promptly locked. In the following decades, a long period followed where the only plan for managing the Refuge seemed to be to just keep those gates locked. Precious little was done to maintain the facility or, for that matter, to save the dace.
In recent years, some work has been done at the Refuge. The USFWS has successfully accessed the vast pool of funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) to perform what they have called restoration of the original spring habitat. Palm trees, tilapia fish and other ‘invasive species’ have been removed from the area. Spring flows have been returned to their ‘original course’. Infrastructure has even been added in preparation for providing public visiting hours. Educational kiosks have been constructed. An elaborate dace viewing chamber has been built at one of the old resort swimming pool sites. But because funding isn’t available to staff the Refuge, the facility still remains closed to the public.
And what about the dace? To be honest, all this extensive public management hasn’t really seemed to benefit the little finger-sized fish. In fact, in the years since the Refuge was established, dace counts in the upper Muddy have actually fallen by over half. Despite this, the USFWS now wants to increase the Refuge by over 13 times its current size.
It could be argued that there really isn’t much left for the community to lose by this plan. Most of the additional 1500 acres proposed for acquisition has been previously purchased by public funds of one kind or another and are already closed to the public. Nearly 1000 acres of it was purchased by the ratepayers of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Another 400 acres is under the management of the BLM.
The only real feeling of loss might come with the acquisition of the 79 acre LDS Church resort property. In recent years, however, this property has undoubtedly become something of a nuisance to the church because of health regulations and numerous other legal issues. If the proposed plans are adopted, the church would undoubtedly be offered some likely obscene price; a price paid by public funds from one public entity or another, and thus the church may be able to unload this troublesome recreational facility. Under the circumstances, one could hardly blame the LDS Church for accepting such an offer.
It should be noted that, under the preferred option in the plan, the USFWS promises that the Refuge would be open daily to the public. Well, in this situation, something is certainly better than nothing. If the Refuge was open to the public it might bring some solace to local residents for their losses. At least folks would be able to go in and see the place. Undoubtedly it would draw a fair number of visitors to the local area. Perhaps the facility could even bring back a shadow of the former economic benefits that the resorts once provided.
The only problem is the little issue of credibility. Why should we believe the USFWS when they say that they intend to open the Refuge to the public? There is no mention in the new management plan of a funding source to staff the expanded Refuge. Land acquisitions are easily funded by SNPLMA, but funding for staffing is a much more difficult nut to crack. After 30 years of being completely locked down, can the USFWS seriously be making plans to open the facility to the public without any concrete ideas for funding its staff? You’ll forgive us if we find that hard to swallow.
In the end, it is difficult to shake the feeling that the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge is not really all that it says it is. It isn’t really about saving the dace; nor is it about serving the public who have paid so dearly for it. Rather it seems to be more about building an empire to the environmentalist cause. It is about gaining the most coveted and valuable lands, purchased at top dollar with public funds, and then immediately regulating the ‘unwashed’ public right out of the picture. Looking at the history of this particular Refuge, it is just hard for a person to see it any other way.
Before more of our public funds are used to add even a single square foot to this facility, the USFWS should be brought to account for the past 30 years at the Refuge. They should be required to provide a true justification for the loss of this major economic driver in the community and the region. (And, PLEASE don’t bring up that old dace ploy again! It’s just not a very strong argument.) Furthermore, before acquiring more land, and adding failure upon failure, the USFWS should be expected to show some real success with the land we’ve already bought for them. At the very least, the current Refuge should be opened to the public. Funding should first be found to staff the facility just the way it is. If this can’t be done now with the Refuge at only 116 acres, how can we seriously believe that it can be done when there are over 1600 acres under management?
Finally, the USFWS should be required to produce some economic benefit to the community and to the region; all while meeting (if they must) their stated environmental goals. Is this really too much to ask? Once the Moapa Valley starts to see some compensation, ANY compensation, for its sore losses of the past three decades, then, and only then, let’s talk about expanding the Refuge.
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