Recreation area turns 40

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 | 3:26 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: October 9, 2004

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the nation's first national recreation area within the National Park System, turned 40 years old on Friday.

Congress designated Lake Mead as a national recreation area on Oct. 8, 1964.

The recreation area stretches along nearly 140 miles of the old Colorado River channel between Nevada and Arizona. It includes both Lake Mead, created by Hoover Dam, and Lake Mojave, created by Davis Dam.

The lakes have a combined shoreline of almost 750 miles. When Lake Mead is full the shoreline stretches 950 miles.

Lake Mead receives up to 10 million visitors a year and is the fifth most visited park within the 388 included in the National Park System.

"Lake Mead National Recreation Area is very important to the state of Nevada," Gov. Kenny Guinn said. "The lake is used for drinking water, agriculture, power production and recreation."

Revenue from visitors to the lake is estimated at more than $1 billion a year, Guinn said.

Although Lake Mead is the main attraction, nearly 87 percent of the 1.5 million acres of the park is land.

Three of America's four desert ecosystems -- the Mojave, the Great Basin and the Sonoran deserts -- meet in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

"This seemingly barren area contains a surprising variety of plants and animals," park Superintendent William Dickinson said.

In addition to natural and cultural resources, there are bighorn sheep, mule deer, coyotes, kit foxes, bobcats, ringtail cats, desert tortoises, lizards, snakes and bird species, Dickinson said.

The park includes cultural resources from prehistoric to historic sites, spanning 10,000 years, park ranger Kay Rohde said. The area includes several culturally sensitive sites with sacred and traditional significance to Native Americans.

The recreation area hosts more than 80 special events each year, such as sailboat regattas and races, offshore boat races, national fishing tournaments, wind surfing and personal watercraft competitions.

To learn more about Lake Mead National Recreation Area, go to the Web site at nps.gov/lame, or call the Alan Bible Visitor Center at (702) 293-8990.