National monument designation could boost
tourism, economic diversification

February 12, 2010 - Will an area north of Las Vegas be designated the nation’s newest national monument?

President Barack Obama could win a measure of tourism redemption in Southern Nevada by taking action.

We may find out within a few weeks if Nevada’s congressional delegation introduces legislation to establish Fossil Beds National Monument (some are calling it Tule Springs National Monument) on up to 30,000 acres along the Upper Las Vegas Wash.

Supporters say the national monument designation would be a great tourism boost for Southern Nevada. But what might be surprising is that a study shows establishing the monument would diversify the economy.

The area under consideration is a treasure trove of paleontological fossils from an ice age.

The National Geographic Society in 1962 and the San Bernardino County Museum in California more recently have confirmed the existence of the single-largest known assemblage of ice age fossils in the Southwest at the site, ranging from 7,000 to 200,000 years old.

The area also supports four unique and imperiled plants, some protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The Upper Las Vegas Wash provides important habitat for the threatened desert tortoise, burrowing owls, kit foxes and other wildlife species that are protected under the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.

The boost to tourism is a no-brainer. Millions of people visit national parks, monuments and recreation areas every year. One of the nation’s most-visited recreation areas is Lake Mead National Recreation Area, south of Las Vegas, that 7.9 million people visited in 2009.

As is the case in all protected Park Service land, visitors would be able to view fossils, but not dig them up. At Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, for example, there are strict rules against removing any rocks from the park.

The Park Service occasionally enlists archaeologists to research protected lands, another potential economic benefit since teams would be staying in the area.

On the other side, one of the nation’s least-visited national parks is a treasure on Nevada’s eastern border, the Great Basin National Park, about a five-hour drive from Las Vegas. Great Basin has mountains and glaciers, incredible views of the desert and an underground surprise — the Lehman Caves.

A portion of Death Valley National Park on the state’s border with California also lies within Nevada. Although not your typical summer vacation park, Death Valley is quite popular in the winter and spring, and this year it should have some fantastic blooms thanks to the abundance of rain the area has received.

In 2008, the nation’s 391 parks, monuments, recreation areas and other designated federal lands drew 275 million visitors spending an estimated $11.6 billion. That averages out to $42.18 per visitor per trip.

As diverse as Nevada’s outdoors is, it’s somewhat surprising it has no national monuments. Lehman Caves used to be a national monument before it was expanded to include the mountains around it and it was transformed into a national park.

According to the Web site nationalatlas.gov, a national monument is intended to preserve at least one nationally significant resource. It is usually smaller than a national park and lacks its diversity of attractions.

“As directed by the secretary of the Interior, many national monuments established in recent years are managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized the president to declare by public proclamation landmarks, structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest situated on lands owned or controlled by the government to be national monuments,” the site says.

Arizona has the most national monuments of the 50 states with 18. New Mexico has 12 and California 10.

As a former resident of northern Arizona, I can vouch for the popularity of the monuments near Flagstaff.

Within an easy hour’s drive of Flagstaff are Sunset Crater National Monument, an extinct volcanic cinder cone; Wupatki National Monument, a well-preserved dwelling of the ancient Sinagua people near Sunset Crater; Walnut Canyon National Monument, another set of Indian ruins in a scenic canyon near town; and Montezuma Castle, pueblo ruins that have been compared with Colorado’s Mesa Verde for their preservation.

Our national parks are a resource often ignored, but be assured that millions of people purchase annual passes to visit them every year. I did years ago when I traveled across the country, driving from park to monument from coast to coast.

The Park Service, recognizing that some people enjoy learning about their country by visiting parks and monuments, sells park passport books that you stamp every time you visit another park. They include the name of the park and the date. My passport has about 20 entries, only because I purchased it after having visited about 60 others.