Citizens group says airport bad for desert

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 11:25 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- An environmental group that acts as a watchdog over national parks said today California's Mojave National Preserve about 40 miles south of Las Vegas is still one of the most endangered in the nation because of a proposal to construct a new Las Vegas airport nearby.

The National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit citizen group, today released the report "Defending the Desert."

The document analyzes how the national parks in southeastern California struggle to protect the desert wilderness and wildlife and battle development and pollution.

"Like so many times in our nation's history, a place that seemed wild and limitless is quickly being consumed and boxed in," said the group's Pacific regional director Brian Huse in a prepared statement.

Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act, which created the Mojave preserve and gave Joshua Tree and Death Valley protected national park status.

The land is a fragile desert landscape home to 700 plant species and 200 animals, according to the group's report.

The group says the preserve faces its most severe threat yet -- a proposed airport that would be built about 10 miles from the preserve border, in the Ivanpah Valley roughly 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

The report says the government has not done enough environmental studies or searches for other sites.

Current bills in Congress "grease the skids for the airport to be built at this particular site," said Helen Wagenvoord, assistant director of the group's Pacific region.

"We're really quite befuddled as to why they are fast-tracking it," Wagenvoord told the Sun. "They say they don't need it for another 10 to 15 years."

Nevada Congress members say the airport is needed to support the massive growth in Clark County. McCarran International Airport will be overburdened with passengers and cargo in the coming years, they say.

The Ivanpah Valley is ideal because of flat topography and distance from airspace at McCarran and Nellis Air Force Base.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has pushed an Ivanpah airport bill to the House floor where it awaits a vote.

Sens. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., are pushing the bill in the Senate, but it is stalled in a committee because of environmental concerns.

Among others, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is worried the airport will harm the desert.

The Nevada delegation has said the airport deal is subject to environmental studies and would have a limited impact on wildlife and plants.