Conservation funding is a smart investment

Nevada is an amazing place. I have lived in this great state my entire life, and I am still enthralled with its natural beauty.

Our state has the largest public land holding in the United States and a rich, dynamic history. Our collective lands, like our past, are diverse and intriguing. Most important, they are accessible, offering many opportunities to explore and connect with nature, wildlife and humanity.   

Each of us now has an opportunity to help ensure that the natural landscapes and quality of life in our state are maintained and preserved for generations to come. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill to reauthorize critical conservation funding — Assembly Bill 84, which would continue a $200 million bonding authority for the next 10 years.

Voters first approved this bond as a ballot question in 2002, with funds earmarked to support recreational trails, public parks, museums, flood-control projects and wildlife habitat conservation. If approved, this important conservation funding would continue a previously successful program with no new cost to taxpayers.

The program’s original bond funds, now spent, enhanced the natural and cultural resources and quality of life throughout Nevada. The funds supported the construction of over 100 miles of recreational trails and preserved 17,000 acres of open space. Because Nevadans voted for conservation funding, we now have museums and facilities at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, community parks and trails like the Elko Peace Park and the Lake Tahoe East Shore trail and bike path, and campgrounds in our state parks, like the one at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park near Laughlin. This funding also was used to protect and restore Nevada’s diverse habitats from the threats of wildfires and to build critical infrastructure to help wildlife.

The original bond funding achieved its objectives and made our state a better place to call home. But the financial need for conservation has not diminished. In the face of a growing population and increasing demand on our limited natural resources, we need conservation funding now more than ever to ensure resiliency for our ecosystems and communities.

And the need is great. A recent study commissioned by The Nature Conservancy estimated the total annual need for continuing conservation and quality of life programs in Nevada is $66.4 million.

As our urban populations grow, it is essential that we continue our investment in community parks and trails, so that our children have places where they can safely run, play and experience nature. The new bill also will provide funding for museums where our children can explore science, history and art. It will support the Las Vegas Valley Rim Trail and the Tahoe Path System, providing walkable, bikeable paths for all to enjoy. It will support water infrastructure work in the Las Vegas Valley Wash, an integral part of our drinking and wastewater system for Las Vegas, and it will provide restoration funds for the forested watersheds that supply drinking water to Reno, Sparks and Carson City.

In our rural communities, it is essential that we protect natural resources and maintain community quality of life in the face of prolonged droughts and wildfire threats. The conservation funding bill will authorize grant funds to support projects that reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire in forests and sagebrush ecosystems and restore burned areas. Funds can be used to enhance preservation and restoration of Nevada’s rivers, wetlands and public lands, providing critical habitat protection for birds and wildlife.

The bill also could provide help to rural communities in their efforts to maintain open space and build trails, and it will help fund infrastructure and visitor amenities in state parks. These investments in trails, open space and parks will increase tourism throughout the state and boost rural economies.

While my family and I live and work in Las Vegas and appreciate the amenities and excitement of city life, we find it deeply necessary to escape the busy city for a different pace of life and to get into Nevada’s outdoors.

Our quality of life depends on this great outdoors.  

We need our state to continue to invest in maintaining our natural and cultural amenities for us and our children. I encourage the Legislature to approve another round of bond authority to support conservation funding, and I invite readers to tell their legislators that Nevada citizens support continued conservation funding through AB84.

Bill Coulthard is a partner of the law firm Kemp, Jones & Coulthard LLP and serves as a trustee on the board of The Nature Conservancy in Nevada.