Off-road, bighorn sheep enthusiasts critique plan

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Off-road motorists and fans of desert bighorn sheep weighed in on a management plan for the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Tuesday night.

The Bureau of Land Management prepared a draft environmental impact statement and management plan for the 48,430-acre conservation area after public hearings in November.

The plan must balance the area's management goals to conserve, protect and enhance the resources for present and future generations, Charles Carroll, conservation area manager for the BLM said.

Sloan Canyon is south of Las Vegas in the McCullough Mountain range, sandwiched between Interstate 15 to the west and U.S. 95 to the east. Henderson's housing development is brushing against the conservation area's boundary on the northeast side, he said.

"Think of it as an urban national conservation area," Carroll said, explaining it had taken three years for experts to develop a framework for the plan.

Thirty Native American tribes are working with the BLM to detail 1,700 petroglyphs and other sacred sites in the canyon, protected as a conservation area by Congress in 2002, Carroll said.

Two tortoise watering holes formed by human hands were discovered and Indian experts are trying to determine how old they are, Carroll said.

The plan also has to protect threatened or endangered species of plants such as the Blue Diamond cholla, the rosy two-tone breadtongue and white-margined breadtongue penstemons.

"This area is critical for desert bighorn sheep," said Bill Vasconi, president of the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn.

Bighorns are sensitive to human intrusion and they can become so stressed that they move out of an area or fail to raise lambs, Vasconi said.

"If we don't approach this (area management) realistically, you can hike, bike and go off road, but you won't see wildlife," Vasconi said.

More than 300 desert bighorns live on the McCullough Mountain range that includes the conservation area, Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist Craig Stevenson said. The bighorn sheep in Nevada have increased in the past decade, from 1,200 to roughly 7,500, he said.

Off-road vehicle groups said that the BLM needs to consider leaving areas open for the adventurous to roam.

Off-roaders supported permits and fees for use of the area's especially sensitive sections such as the canyon containing petroglyphs.

Lisa Farmer of the Vegas Valley Four-Wheelers off-road group complained that the management plan did not include any trails for motorized travel.

"We are slowly becoming an endangered species," Farmer said.

Other off-road enthusiasts promised to work side by side with federal officials to preserve the area and ensure all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, didn't stray from the beaten paths.

Russ Sherratt asked the BLM how far the $66 million, dedicated to preserve Sloan Canyon, would go to maintain trails or other facilities.

"We don't want people out there tearing it up," Sherratt said. He supported a permit system to access the area.

Daryl Wade described one off-road trip near Sloan Canyon when he heard what sounded like a gunshot. He looked and saw two bighorn sheep clashing horns.

"Everybody should be able to enjoy the area," Wade said.

Carroll said after the hearing that the off-road groups were some of the best volunteers Sloan Canyon had, protecting it and cleaning it up.

Jeffrey Orr, a transplanted easterner who became an avid hiker and mountaineer, said that he would like to see Sloan Canyon preserved for future generations.

"It's growing so much, this Earth is. I wish there was some possibility that my children and my children's children can see that," Orr said.

John Hiatt, conservation chairman of the Red Rock Audubon Society, said that the area would not recover rapidly after it is disturbed.

In addition to bighorn sheep, Hiatt said that raptors need expanded nesting sites. He also warned the BLM that if campers are allowed to spark campfires, it could lead to a disastrous wildland fire that could take decades before the conservation area recovered.

"We will live with the consequences for a long time," Hiatt said of BLM's planning effort.

Las Vegas resident Terri Robertson, who recalled when Las Vegas had a single stoplight, said she could go into any area of the valley at one time without restrictions.

"Could I be grandmothered in, so I never need a permit?" Robertson asked.

The BLM will continue taking comments today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Paseo Verde Library, 280 South Green Valley Parkway, Henderson.

The hearing will include brief presentations by federal officials, followed by public comment.

The BLM hopes to have the management plan approved and in place by November this year. The comment period closes June 23.