Editorial: BLM lacks funding

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007 | 7:03 a.m.

When it comes to the upkeep of places such as Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, federal officials say they rely heavily on community volunteers.

A story by the Las Vegas Sun's Phoebe Sweet on Saturday said 100 volunteers were expected to turn out over the weekend to help spruce up the conservation area that is just west of Las Vegas and sees about 1 million visitors a year.

Like other federal agencies that oversee the nation's public lands, the Bureau of Land Management, which manages Red Rock Canyon, struggles with ongoing budget cuts, agency officials said. One BLM ranger routinely is assigned to cover tens of thousands of acres of open land, making it virtually impossible to control visitors who dump trash or who vandalize facilities and cultural sites.

As we noted in a May 2006 editorial, the Bush administration's requests that the BLM's budget remain static were routinely honored by Republican-controlled Congresses. President Bush also has increasingly shifted the BLM's focus away from conservation and toward issuing drilling permits for oil and natural gas. That has left areas used solely for conservation and recreation - such as Red Rock Canyon - in dire need of people and resources.

Thankfully, groups of Las Vegas Valley-area volunteers have been willing to pick up trash, repair vandals' damage, perform trail maintenance and do other much-needed tasks at Red Rock Canyon.

But their willingness to contribute does not take government off the hook. That the Bush administration has shortchanged the agency responsible for maintaining some of the nation's most ancient natural treasures is pitiful.