Letter: Northwest land must be spared

Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 | 9:04 a.m.

We support the moratorium on the transfer to local governments of 8,000 acres in the Las Vegas Valley's northwest. This acreage had been slated for public auction on Feb. 2.

Now that two varieties of endangered plants have been identified in these undeveloped sections of the northwest desert, as well as paleontological fossils that hold clues to how life was lived in the Mojave Desert during the Ice Age, we are asking that all parties sign a conservation agreement to protect these and other sensitive resources in our area.

Presently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved to conserve the land as well as environmental protection specialists in the Las Vegas office of the Bureau of Land Management and government scientists.

The protection of the rare plants are a priority to our future generations. Conservation of the Las Vegas wash corridor, maintaining the arroyos in their natural state, allowing the remaining animals that live in the desert to enjoy their homeland and keeping this area in the same natural condition as we find it is of paramount importance.

The common landscape is rural, providing an excellent opportunity for equestrian, multi-use trail development. Floyd Lamb Park could provide a good trail head location.

The city fund is booming. Development is rampant. We ask that this area be left alone.

MICKI JAY

Editor's note: Micki Jay is the founder of the Northwest Las Vegas Equestrian Safety Coalition, a group that seeks to preserve and maintain the safety of open land and trails in the vicinity of Floyd Lamb State Park.