Conservation Groups Host Gold Butte Workshop

By AILEEN QUINONES

Moapa Valley Progress

The Friends of Gold Butte organization held a meeting on Wednesday, June 27 in Mesquite to collect comments from the public on how Gold Butte National Monument should be managed to maintain the preservation of natural and cultural treasures in the monument.

Scarcely 18 months since its establishment by President Barack Obama, Gold Butte National Monument still does not have a management plan. In reference to this, Friends of Gold Butte Director Jaina Moan said that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) need to “listen to the public on how we want Gold Butte to be managed.”

Mesquite residents and others gathered in the Highland Estates Resort meeting room to discuss their concerns and provide input on the future management of Gold Butte.

The discussion was led by Moan, and Christian Gerlach, an representative of the Sierra Club. Both talked about the importance not only of protecting the Gold Butte resources, but also the importance the land holds for the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the Las Vegas Paiutes, and all the southern Paiute Peoples. The Gold Butte monument is especially important to the Moapa Band because it was once part of their original reservation of 2.1 million acres.

At one point the BLM included Gold Butte National Monument as a part of a public comment period designed to collect input for a revision of the 2014 Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the southern Nevada District. But Gold Butte was subsequently removed from the comment solicitation on the day that public hearings started.

This is where Friends of Gold Butte took it upon themselves to demand that the BLM protect Gold Butte National Monument and engage in a robust and public planning process, according to handouts provided to attendees. That process should not only consider input from Native American nations and recreational users, but also residents in surrounding communities, and Nevadans, the handout states.

Wednesday’s meeting talked about how a successful monument management plan would manage visitation and travel at key sites by creating a positive visitor experience and protecting the resources for future generations.

One such issue that was brought up was the issue of building restroom facilities in frequently visited areas at Gold Butte. Another issue the meeting touched upon was whether or not to have a designated area where guests can shoot firearms.

The meeting also discussed the need to inventory important resources such as cultural and historic sites, wildlife habitats and corridors, fossil sites, Native and sensitive plant species.

Friends of Gold Butte also discussed the management approach for special designated areas within the monument. This would include areas of critical environmental concern, lands with wilderness characteristics, special and extensive recreation management areas to safeguard important resources.

Administrative management designations, such as those listed above, can be included in land management plans to provide for adequate guidance in the management of historic, cultural, natural, and recreational resources.

No one from the BLM was present at last week’s meeting and therefore were unable to provide any comment.