Blog – Friends of Sloan Canyon

Jan

2021

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument: Preserving a Cultural Landscape

This is an excerpt from an article FSC Board Member Alan O’Neill wrote with Searchlight resident Judy Bundorf in Sierra Club’s Desert Report newsletter. Learn more and sign the petition to create Avi Kwa Ame National Monument at honorspiritmountain.org.

In Southern Nevada, we have the opportunity to protect some of the most visually stunning, ecologically diverse, and culturally significant public lands in the entire Mojave Desert. Stretching from the Newberry Mountains in the east to the New York, South McCullough, Castle, and Piute Mountains in the west, these lands feature a cacophony of plant and animal diversity, dramatic peaks, scenic canyons, and natural springs. It includes sloping bajadas covered with ancient Joshua tree forests, unique grasslands, and a rich history of rock art and other cultural sites. It is also an area designated by Audubon as an Important Bird Area.

A coalition of tribes, conservation groups, recreation interests, and others is working to establish the Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain) National Monument to permanently protect these unique lands. Avi Kwa Ame is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain. Lying partly in the proposed monument and partly within Lake Mead National Recreation Area, it is designated as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places.

Energy developers recently tried to build two large wind farms in the heart of this dramatic landscape, and new proposals may come at any time. Such development would forever scar these valuable lands and degrade their world-class habitat and their nationally recognized cultural resources.

Continue reading →

Jun

2020

Our Commitment to Safety as Work and Play Resume

Needless to say, its been a challenging 2020. Four months after our community was asked to stay at home and flatten the curve, Nevada remains in the middle of a nationwide health crisis. In Clark County, folks want to get back to business, encourage the tourists to return, and just plain get back to normal. Our scrappy little Friends group, we cannot wait for that to happen! It’s going to take work, though, along with patience and perhaps a litter humor. Our attitude with recovery is the same as our attitude toward public lands stewardship…

We believe good things happen when we work together as a community.

No matter what activities FSC engages in, from trail work to guided hikes to talking about the outdoors at public events, the safety of our volunteers and the public is our top priority. To that end, as we get back to work at Sloan Canyon NCA this summer we want to fill you in on some safety measures we’re following:

Throughout the recovery process, and now as required by the State of Nevada, anyone participating in an activity coordinated by Friends of Sloan Canyon will be required to wear a face mask when within a car’s length of other volunteers or the public and to keep a mask ready to wear all other times during the activity.

If you encounter us on the trail or at our mobile contact station we encourage you to don a face mask, as well. After all, we’re all in this together.

We keep alcohol-based hand sanitizer and gloves on-hand for volunteers and the public to use when exchanging maps, paperwork, and other materials. Everyone is encouraged to sanitize their hands per the guidelines we all know and love by now after time spent on the trail or as a participant in one of our activities.

During community outreach or on-site group activities we’ll be working to ensure participants maintain a 2 meter/6 foot distance from each other. Sometimes physical distancing is not practical, in which case we’ll mask up and keep sanitation products at hand.

This might seem a bit extreme to some of our community. After all, people are heading outdoors to spend time away from people, and the chance of transmission may be much lower while hiking, biking, or running. We understand. As mentioned a few times already, we’re all in this together, and its going to take us all working together to recover from these strange circumstances we find ourselves in during the course of this pandemic. Your safety is important to us, and we hope our safety is important to you.

Mar

2020

Health and Safety during the COVID-19 threat.

To support public health and safety efforts during the COVID-19 threat, we’re pausing guided hikes, on-site stewardship activities, and any effort at gathering community members together for at least the next few weeks.

We recognize that although Nevadans are being asked to isolate themselves, lessening the spread of coronavirus and the chance of contracting COVID-19, some people are going to turn to the outdoors for that isolation. If you do, please be considerate of both your community and your local public lands so they’re both there for you now and for years to come:

Continue following the guidelines of medical authorities such as CDC, Nevada Health Response, and state & federal authorities on preparedness, distancing, and lessening the chance of infection. For outdoor spaces, don’t go where other people are.
Continue practicing Leave No Trace principals, protect yourself from the elements with proper long-sleeved clothing & hats, and don’t skimp on water.
Similar to recent federal government shutdowns, organizations such as ours cannot perform normal stewardship duties to scale during these times. It’s up to individuals – its up to YOU – to be good citizens while enjoying the outdoors. Please don’t litter, obey current federal land management signs and rules, keep your dogs on leashes and pick up after them. For extra gold stars, bring a grocery or trash bag with you on your excursion and pickup litter along the way!

If you’re favorite outdoors spaces are crowded, do yourself a favor and head somewhere else. That includes HOME. What a great opportunity to organize all those photos and videos on your phone, clean & organize your camp gear, pick up that instrument sitting in your closet. There are thing we can do indoors now that will help us outdoors later.

Friends of Sloan Canyon is looking forward to getting back to work (and play) as soon as practical. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy. See you on the trail…after!

Mar

2020

The Military Service to Green Service Program Returns

Friends of Sloan Canyon is proud to announce the return of a local annual program called From Military Service to Green Service with a generous $40,000 grant from NV Energy Foundation. In partnership with the NV Energy Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management, and Great Basin Institute, this project supports recently discharged military veterans seeking career opportunities in natural resource management. The recruits are trained to become part of the Nevada Conservation Corps and assigned to a six-week detail performing trail repairs, signage installation, and other on-site work at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. This is the fifth year NV Energy Foundation has supported this program providing a unique opportunity for veterans to gain work experience for a post-military career managing our nation’s public lands.

“Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area is a special place, with amazing cultural resources, desert wildlife, and exotic geology right next door to the City of Henderson” said Jim Stanger, Board President of Friends of Sloan Canyon. “We are extremely grateful for NV Energy Foundation’s support and commitment to helping provide veterans with work experience, and support for Southern Nevada’s public lands—lands that are enjoyed by so many people and contribute to Nevadans’ quality of life.”

Members of prior years’ Veterans Conservation Corps have gone on to work in wildland firefighting teams or have taken specialist or ranger positions with Bureau of Land Management or other federal land management agencies. This year’s Veterans Conservation Corps is just starting their detail and will be building and repairing trails in and around the North McCullough Wilderness area. Near the end of their detail they will receive their “red card”, the first stages of training on an optional path to joining national wildland firefighting crews. Crew members also receive AmeriCorps education awards that may be applied for college classes or to pay student loans.

To find out more about the program visit: friendsofsloan.org/vcc

Oct

2019

Geocache Removal at Sloan Canyon NCA

The Bureau of Land Management is no longer allowing geocaches within the boundaries of Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area or Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. As a stewardship partner of BLM’s we’ve been asked by them to assist in removing those materials from within the Sloan NCA boundaries.

I want everyone to know that we respect the geocaching community. I have experience hunting for these caches myself. It’s a fun, family-friendly activity, and Friends of Sloan Canyon is otherwise happy to support the hobby. There are still plenty of local areas in Southern Nevada’s to place and hunt for geocaches. If you have any questions as to where you can place a new geocache refer to Groundspeak’s Regional Geocaching Policies Wiki.

As our trail crews collect the geocache containers within the NCA boundaries we’re noting their geocache code and date of retrieval. All containers and contents are sealed shut or bagged and stored for pickup. BLM is working with Groundspeak, the operators of Geocaching.com, to alert the cache owners with instructions to claim their cache.

Would you like to help retrieve geocaches? Keep on eye on our calendar for dates or email volunteer@friendsofsloan.org and we’ll get you in the crew.