Columnist Susan Snyder: For ranger, ideas are springing up

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 5:49 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

February 5 - 6, 2005

Scott Egy is pretty good at making things grow.

And until Dec. 13 that applied to the plants he tended out at Lake Mead National Recreation Area as a member of the Nevada Conservation Corps.

But today Egy, 26, is applying his green thumb to the people who visit Spring Mountain Ranch State Park in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. As the park's new interpretive ranger, Egy hopes to increase the number of people who discover or revisit the scenic historic area.

"I'm excited, and I'm wanting to get stuff rolling," Egy (pronounced "EE-gee") said Thursday.

He sat behind the desk in an office that for 12 years was occupied by Karen Rennick, the park's first interpretive ranger who retired last spring. A few pieces of the whimsical cow artwork she collected still hung on one wall. But Rennick left Egy more than cows.

He inherited her project progeny, which include the annual Pioneer Day demonstrations and mountain man rendezvous, guided hikes up the park's Sandstone Canyon and the Living History program, in which docents dress up and portray the historic ranch's former owners and residents. Egy concedes they are big shoes to fill, but he also considers himself fortunate to have a solid base of events from which the park can expand.

Egy, who has a bachelor's degree in history, would like to see Pioneer Day increased from one day to two. And the Living History presentations could be done on a single day or weekend, rather than throughout the year.

New projects Egy is considering include an October pumpkin-carving day, with people in costumes relating the park's ghost stories and having blacksmiths actually working in the historic blacksmith shop.

"I'd love to hear the sound of pounding metal up there all day long," Egy said. "I just need to find someone willing to do it."

There are six full-time staffers at Spring Mountain Ranch, but volunteers are its backbone, Egy said. They give the tours, staff the events and are even building a replica of Old Bill Williams' mountain man retreat near the park's 19th-century sandstone cabins.

Egy is aware some of his proposals border on controversial. For example, he would like to see the sandstone cabins' area open to visitors all the time, rather than only during the current handful of guided daily tours. First, they must address concerns about volunteer staffing and vandalism.

But he is adding an Earth Day celebration April 23-24. Activities are to include Leave No Trace workshops and presentations about water conservation and desert tortoises.

By adding environmental and conservation education to the park's strong history component, Egy hopes to attract a new type of visitor and bring back others who have been there and seen it all.

"In order to draw people out, you need to change a little," he said.

One of the park's biggest hurdles is trying to lure people beyond the entrance gate, he added. Too many people are stumbling upon Spring Mountain Ranch while looking for something else. The park needs an aggressive marketing plan.

"They're always confusing us with (Old Nevada) Bonnie Springs up the road. I've worked in that fee booth and had 20 cars turn around because they're looking for the petting zoo," he said. "I think we can attract more people out here without ruining the history of the park."