By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials have announced the kickoff of a Recreational Analysis of the Gold Butte Complex. Officials are inviting local residents to attend upcoming public meetings and engage in this process of analyzing current recreational uses.
The Gold Butte region is a vast open area located just south of Mesquite and east of the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. The area has traditional and historic significance to many local families with pioneer ancestors who ranched, mined, hunted and traditionally have engaged in recreational activities there. It also has historic and religious significant to Native American tribes in the region.
“We know that this is an important area to many of you in this community,” said Carrie Ronning Natural Resource Specialist of the BLM Las Vegas Field Office who made a presentation about the study to the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB) on January 11. “That is why we need your input to get things right.”
Ronning explained that a good deal of BLM planning had already gone into the Gold Butte complex in recent years. This includes an extensive designation of motorized trails completed in 2008. It also includes studies of cultural resources in the area. In addition, inventories of sensitive plant and wildlife species had been done.
The upcoming phase of planning will deal with how people interact with the land and environment in the Gold Butte region, Ronning said.
Ronning listed the goals for the study. These included gathering information about non-motorized recreation in the region; identifying needs for capital improvements like campgrounds, picnic areas, parking areas and hiking trails; and developing a range of alternatives for recreation improvements which would inform a full-fledged Gold Butte Management Plan at some point in the future.
Ronning emphasized that her group would be looking for information on recreational uses mainly from the public who spend time on the land.
“We are hoping to get you involved in going out and collecting data on exactly where you like to go and what you like to do out there,” Ronning said. “Then bring it back to the public meetings so we can include these in our plans.”
Ronning explained that three open-house style meetings would be scheduled during March and April. Maps will be available at the meetings so that attendees can identify exact locations of areas they like to go for recreation. These will then be added to a master plan document, Ronning said.
“We want to know: Where do you camp? Where do you picnic? Where do you park when you go to these places? Do you use certain trails for hiking, horseback and bicycling?” Ronning said.
Areas that the public feel need restoration work would also be of interest in the process, Ronning said. These would include historic areas, rock art or wildlife habitat that has been damaged, and springs and guzzlers that need work, she said.
Also there is an interest in documenting place names, Ronning said. “We are interested in calling places by its correct name,” she said. “A lot of places out there; like roads, trails and destinations; have traditional names that we sometimes don’t know about. We’d like to hear from you about these traditional names, the source of those names, and how long the name has been in use.”
MVTAB member wondered about all the resources involved and devoted by the BLM to developing planning documents.
“You know you do all of this work, so many people working hard in the office in Las Vegas producing these written documents to manage the land more effectively,” Nelson said. “Meanwhile you have 300,000 acres plus out there and it is being patrolled by just one ranger. It seems like doing all of this planning we are sacrificing resources for people in the office writing the reports that maybe ought to be used for getting rangers out on the land watching over it.”
“The planning process helps to establish clear goals and objectives for the land to determine what we are managing for,” Ronning responded.
She explained that the planning is being funded by monies from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA).
The three public meetings will be held in March and April: one in Moapa Valley, another in Mesquite and another in Las Vegas. The exact dates of the meetings will be announced in the coming weeks. A 60 day comment period will follow the meetings where the public can make comments in writing. The Draft Plan is expected to be completed for public review in the fall of 2012.
