Gold Butte is the work of many

By Terri Robertson, Las Vegas

Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017 | 2 a.m.

It would be impossible to thank each person who helped get designation for the Gold Butte National Monument, but I would like to try.

If you ever made a phone call, sent an email, signed a petition, I thank you. To Congresswoman Dina Titus and her staff who have worked tirelessly for Gold Butte, I thank you. To Sen. Harry Reid and his staff who led this campaign and never wavered, I thank you.

To Fresh 52, who allowed us to table at their Farmers Markets, I thank you.

To the Las Vegas Band of Paiutes, the Moapa Band of Paiutes, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends of Gold Butte, the Sierra Club, League of Women Voters, PLAN, the Wilderness Society and countless others, I thank you.

I want to make a special shoutout to Ann McConnell and Elaine Holmes. In 2001, Sen. Reid sent a legislative fellow out to walk Sloan Petroglyph Canyon. We were at the end of the campaign to create the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. I asked Ann and Elaine to put together their best photos of Gold Butte and put them in an album.

As I said goodbye to Reid’s staff member, I handed her the photo album and told her to share it with Sen. Reid and tell him Gold Butte was our next project. With the help of Annie Hoskin and Nancy Gentis, our community held the first Friends of Gold Butte meeting in 2003.

Over the past 16 years, I have personally talked with approximately 10,000 Southern Nevada residents who supported Gold Butte.

I want to especially thank my children and grandchildren for their dedication to grandma’s project. Thank you for every hour by my side, in the heat of summer and all year long.

Now is the time for contemplation and celebration. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for this magnificent gift — this gift that will keep on giving long after we are all gone. Gold Butte will be sharing her beauty and her cultural history for decades to come.

I cannot wait to see the first Gold Butte National Monument sign.