Visitors center may replace golf course

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

Goodbye golf course, hello visitors center.

Local U.S. Forest Service officials are looking at ways to increase access and appreciation of the Spring Mountains by redeveloping the newly acquired Nel Golf Course, part of a 127-acre parcel of private property in Kyle Canyon.

A visitors center and an environmental educational center top the list of possibilities for the land, which the federal government purchased for $15 million on Feb. 26, said Stephanie Phillips, deputy forest supervisor for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Spring Mountains Recreation Area.

That parcel and another 125 acres already owned by the U.S. Forest Service could also house a desert museum, additional campsites, hiking trails, additional firefighting facilities and a parking area that will allow for a shuttle service to other parts of the Spring Mountains, including Kyle and Lee canyons, Phillips said.

The forest service is seeking community input on how to develop the land, but the one thing that is certain is that the golf course will go, Phillips said.

"One of the things we will do is restore the golf course to its natural condition and have hiking trails instead," Phillips said.

The golf course complex, behind the Mount Charleston Hotel, was developed by Alan Nel and made available for purchase by efforts of the Conservation Fund and Outside Las Vegas Foundation, he said.

The golf course was never popular and a single log structure on the land was never finished, local conservationist John Hiatt of the Red Rock Audubon Society said.

Acquiring the land was a high priority for local government officials, community members and conservationists, Mike Ford, director for the Nevada and Southwest Conservation Fund, said.

"(The community) did not want to see additional (commercial) development up on the mountain for fear that it would result in a lot of impacts for people who frequent the mountain and live up on the mountain," Ford said. "The Conservation Fund stepped in to ... protect it in perpetuity for the people's use of the Spring Mountains."

Monies for the land sale were authorized through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, Phillips said, and any development will be within the forest service's mission to protect and promote the natural environment.

"Our goal is for it to be a destination point for people who use the local recreation area," Phillips said.

There is currently no information center and limited parking and camping areas for the more than 1 million people who visit the Spring Mountains Recreation Area each year, Phillips said.

Local hikers and conservationists said they are pleased with the forest service's purchase of the land, and most supported the planned developments.

Ford said the visitors center would provide a gateway to Mount Charleston.

"It is so dearly needed because there is no parking up there and no place for people to get information."

Hiatt agreed, adding that the educational component was the most important.

"It's just an outstanding place to tell young people in the valley here about the Spring Mountains -- what is different about it and what is unique about it and why they should value it," Hiatt said.

Only the Southern Nevada Sierra Club expressed some concern with the proposed plans. Jane Feldman, conservation chairwoman, said her organization supported the forest service's purchase of the land, but she supported leaving the area undeveloped.

Feldman said she specifically opposed a visitors center or a parking lot.

"The more asphalt we put up there, the less we have for the natural surroundings," Feldman said.

Mark Saylor, an outdoorsman, orthodontist and a member of the Friends of Nevada Wilderness, said the land was an ideal location for the facilities.

"A good portion of it has already been bladed or had some golf course holes, so a large portion of it isn't pristine," Saylor said. "So to purchase it and lock it up as a pristine location isn't logical."

The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Conservation Fund and Outside Las Vegas Foundation will sponsor several volunteer cleanup events in April and May. A dedication ceremony is planned for July.