Letter: Don’t destroy nature’s beauty

Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 | 9:21 a.m.

I'm an out-of-towner who has visited Las Vegas every year for the past decade to attend the Comdex trade show.

I have enjoyed both your city and the fantastic environment surrounding it; I've always made an out-of-town excursion a part of the trip and have hiked Red Rock, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, the Lake Mead Recreation Area and the Mojave Desert.

It was a bit disheartening seeing the area this time around.

From the air it was obvious that no real planning is going on regarding development, and when I hiked to the mountaintops in Red Rock this year, the view was more city than scenic, and the smog obscured the view in every direction. I saw Lake Mead down further than I have ever seen it.

You can't kid yourselves any longer. You are wasting not only your resources, but the resources of an entire region and the nation itself.

Everybody enjoys your "Sin City" image, but there is a limit even to irresponsibility. I hope you are wise enough to put a stop to overdevelopment and waste. I don't think I am the only one who will no longer find any incentive to visit a city that treats its environment like just one more sucker to be wrung dry.

Put some of your energy, vision and money into keeping your surroundings as attractive as your city is enjoyable, and I think you and I will both be a little richer (you with my money and I with the pleasure of your out-of-town attractions).

ERIC THIEL West Lafayette, Ind.