Sloan Canyon called among most threatened

Thursday, June 30, 2005 | 11:13 a.m.

The Sierra Club has included the 3-year-old Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area south of Henderson on a list released today of the nation's most threatened environmental areas.

The national environmental group said Sloan Canyon is threatened by plans to put a helicopter pad, or heliport, just to the west of the conservation area. The heliport has been a hotly debated issue for years as local and federal officials seek to move flights carrying tourists to the Grand Canyon away from residential areas near the center of the urban area.

After extended debate over where the new heliport should go, Clark County and members of Nevada's congressional delegation have identified an area several miles south of the small community of Sloan, next to Interstate 15 south of Las Vegas. Legislation to transfer federal land to the county for the heliport has passed the House of Representatives and awaits action in the Senate.

But environmentalists say the location threatens the very elements that led to creation of the national conservation area, which has well-preserved petroglyphs and habitat for bighorn sheep.

"We know that we have a lot of areas around Las Vegas that need to be protected, but Sloan Canyon is such a new conservation area and it includes such incredible historical significance for the state of Nevada," said Tara Smith, a Sierra Club regional representative. "We want to draw attention to it. We want to make sure we don't destroy it before we have a chance to barely explore it.

"We are asking people to contact our county commissioners and let them know that there are alternatives to the (heliport) site that will take it away from Sloan Canyon. They need to consider the other options."

County officials say they've been down that road. Randy Walker, Clark County Aviation Department director, noted that a number of alternatives have been debated, among them a pad at Sunrise Mountain, a site between Henderson and Boulder City, and another one at a go-cart track near Sloan.

The legislation in Congress "would be a good alternative," Walker said. "We've worked through a lot of issues."

While some environmentalists have suggested a site near Sunrise Mountain would be more appropriate, Walker said that proposal was shouted down by residents there. Also, the site, which is home to an abandoned landfill, has to be cleaned up first, which could delay use by a matter of years.

He said conservationists should welcome the latest site, about two miles south of the go-cart track. The so-called go-cart site, north of the proposed site, is on land the county already owns and could easily be turned into a heliport, but it would be much worse for the conservation area.

"In terms of protecting Sloan Canyon, they (the environmentalists) ought to be supporting the bill," Walker said. "It would be nice not to have the problem at all, but it's there, and you have to deal with it."

Bill James, a local Sierra Club member and chairman of the local chapter's wilderness committee, is unconvinced. The Henderson resident said he has worked to have the Sloan Canyon area, which includes the South McCullough Wilderness area, protected since the mid-1970s.

Nevada's congressional delegation moved less than three years ago to create the conservation area. James said he believes the heliport will destroy what the delegation created.

The conservation area has unique assets that should be spared the estimated 90 helicopter overflights a day that the pad would bring, he said.

"First and foremost are the petroglyphs, but behind the petroglyphs to the south is a wonderful wilderness area, the South McCullough Wilderness Area. They're going to fly right over it.

"The appeal of the place is that it is so close to Las Vegas. It borders on Henderson. It is a wonderful place to get away from the urban hustle and bustle. ... I am certain it (the heliport) is going to wreck it for any recreational value. It would mean a flight overhead every four or five minutes."

Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who has helped lead discussions over the last five years on the helicopter flights, said he is sympathetic to the point of view expressed by the Sierra Club, but alternatives have been exhausted.

"We understand their concerns, we share their concerns, but they are not going to achieve their goals by opposing the legislation," Woodbury said. "The airport staff has looked everywhere. There is no place where you can put it that would be accessible to the customers that the helicopter companies are servicing that would not impact either residential neighborhoods or environmentally sensitive sites."

He said the go-cart site, which staff had recommended before Woodbury suggested the new proposed site south of the track, would be worse for the conservation area.

"The Sierra Club and others who are protesting the proposed legislation in Congress to transfer to the county the site two miles south are really going to hurt their own cause," Woodbury said. The go-cart site would "be much worse to the conservation sites the Sierra Club is concerned about."