Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Southern Nevada is home to some of the most spectacular desert landscapes in the country. We are fortunate to inhabit a living laboratory that highlights the ecology of the desert along with the progression of human history in the Eastern Mojave Desert, a literal crossroads of the American West. Nevadans are incredibly proud of our natural heritage and have always worked to protect the spaces we care about and celebrate civilian stewardship.
Now we have a unique opportunity to protect this area as our next national monument — the “Avi Kwa Ame National Monument,” named for the Mojave term for “Spirit Mountain,” one of the most culturally significant aspects of the proposed monument.
Avi Kwa Ame encompasses 440,671 acres of desert tortoise habitat, Joshua trees, artifacts and cultural sites from the Yuman speaking people, the historic Walking Box Ranch, hundreds of miles of trails for visitors to use as recreation, and more. This space is something our leaders should designate for higher protection and our community should embrace. One way our community can get behind the national monument proposal is through the many Friends groups that help support public lands.
The Friends of Sloan Canyon was started in 2003 and currently partners with the Bureau of Land Management in stewardship and outreach programs, including the recent creation of a picnic area at a popular trailhead and trail work throughout the National Conservation Area. Activities like this are amazing opportunities to introduce our community to the environment and special places that we are looking to protect. Through our sister organization, Friends of Walking Box Ranch, we have done restoration and maintenance work across the grounds of the historic ranch as we prepare for BLM to fully open the ranch to the public.
Partnerships between Friends groups like ours and the BLM are key to maintaining access to recreation areas and promoting stewardship of public lands we all treasure. Having the opportunity to work hand in hand with the BLM has helped foster trust in the organization as well as an active appreciation for the areas we are working to protect. We’ve seen our community show up when given the chance to show their love for historic and conservation sites.
Establishing Avi Kwa Ame as the next national monument is crucial for creating community buy-in and laying the foundation for strong partnerships with the BLM. Interest in exploring the outdoors historically has boomed with new designations and civilian conservation groups are poised to play a unique role in stewarding the land as interest in visiting Avi Kwa Ame grows. We are ready to meet the moment and do our part to maintain this pristine jewel of desert landscape and cultural center; we just need our elected officials to take action and designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument.
Jim Stanger is a nonprofit manager and director of Friends of Sloan Canyon and Friends of Walking Box Ranch. When he’s not stargazing or exploring backcountry roads, he’s organizing trail cleaning and maintenance teams.
