LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A coalition of local non-profits are fighting for a national monument designation in east Las Vegas.
Taylor Patterson, executive director of Indigenous Voices of Nevada, and Bertha Gutierrez, program director at Conservation Lands Foundation, are teaming up with conservationists and geologists to fight to protect public land.
The proposed monument area spans 32,618 acres, including Frenchman Mountain, Rainbow Gardens, the Great Unconformity, and Sunrise Mountain. The boundary would run up to the boundary of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
“This landscape has a lot of potential. It just needs a little more love, so that’s what we’re doing here,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez points out the proposed monument area hosts geological wonders like the Great Unconformity.
The land is also home to the Las Vegas Bearpoppy, a plant that is exclusive to Clark County and vulnerable to extinction.
Patterson says the region is sacred to the Southern Paiute.
“It’s part of the salt song trail, which basically is the songs that tell the life cycle of the of the Paiute people, so this area is special and important to the Southern Paiute community, but also to indigenous people as a whole,” Patterson said.
Gutierrez says a national monument designation would provide east Las Vegas residents access to free, safe outdoor recreation.
“That community is the only community that doesn’t have access to free public lands that are well managed, that are safe to visit. This is the closest that they have,” Gutierrez added.
Right now, those looking to enjoy the beauty, peace and tranquility of the outdoor space instead find endless graffiti and broken glass.
“I think it’s an education gap. I think once people understand just how special this area is, how important the land is, they’ll start to treat this area better,” Patterson said.
A national monument could also give the Bureau of Land Management more resources to manage the area.
“That gives the agency more ability to do more with the area, to help with signage, help with clean up, help with law enforcement,” Gutierrez added.
A national monument designation must come through legislation from Congress or by order of the U.S. president, under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
The east Las Vegas National Monument Coalition is circulating a petition, hoping more voices will successfully push for protection.
Get Outdoors Nevada hosts clean ups of the Frenchman Mountain region. The next clean-up is scheduled for May.
