Columnist Susan Snyder: Volunteers can really make a scene

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 8:13 a.m.

The day spent digging holes in the desert is one I likely never will forget.

The holes were for the posts of split-rail fences outside the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area's visitors' center. It's a wonder we managed to sink a single pole.

It's been four years, but I still can recall how the desert's dry, crumbly soil tumbled back into the hole faster than a person could pull it out. It took a whole bunch of people, with quick shovels. The amenities that visitors enjoy out at Red Rock don't happen simply because we pay a $5 entry fee a couple of times a year when we show Strip-weary visitors the Scenic Loop Drive.

Trails are maintained, litter is cleaned up and vandals' damage is eradicated because a couple of times a year armies of volunteers grab tools and bottles of sunscreen and get busy.

It's hard. It's sweaty.

And it's a blast.

Don't miss out on the next opportunity to get dirty. The Friends of Red Rock Canyon are looking for volunteers for their annual Red Rock Day cleanup. This year's event coincides with National Volunteer Day, which is Saturday, May 1.

The Friends of Red Rock is a nonprofit group of volunteers who work to protect the conservation area's 197,000 acres and help provide an enriching experience for the 1,000,000 people who visit annually.

Volunteers are to be divided into groups and assigned trained leaders. They might help clear out a trail that's lost its way or destroy and remove an illegal fire ring.

They might clean up the campground or pluck litter from the endless acres of flowering cactus and shrubbery.

A short training session will help volunteers learn how to work effectively and constructively in the fragile desert environment. And they will spend the day surrounded by some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.

Work is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 1. Volunteers need to provide their own work gloves and water and bring a hat and sunscreen. But a free barbecue lunch will be provided.

Volunteers younger than 18 must have a consent form signed by their parents. Groups of 10 people or more are advised to pre-register. Call Scott Bahan, 515-5350, or Mark Beauchamp, 255-8743, for information or to register a group.

In an area where the economy depends largely on drawing a fuzzy line between what's real and what's fake, Red Rock Canyon is steadying force.

Las Vegas city officials have more spins than a roulette wheel as they seek support to garner national scenic byway status for a seedy part of Las Vegas Boulevard. The northern, downtown end of the boulevard is a treasure, as long as strip clubs, pawn shops and vacant buildings are the scenery people seek.

We know better. The lands of Red Rock Canyon embrace a byway worthy of its national scenic status.

So spend a day showing your appreciation for what we have by protecting it for the next set of visitors who deserve to see something better about the Las Vegas Valley -- something that will always dwarf and trivialize the facade of the urban core.

Who knows?

Next time you have visitors in town you might be able to drive the Scenic Loop and say, "See that fence over there? I helped build it."