It’s no secret, we all love Gold Butte! It’s a place with the most incredible cultural history, beautiful landscapes, and a broad variety of desert animals and plants. And, there are so many different places to find these things in Gold Butte.

Friends of Gold Butte loves to take its members and guests out and show them all the wonderful places there. We offer easy outings like picnics and “looky-loos” or wanders, to difficult hikes with elevation gains that take you to spectacular vistas.

Many of you have been on these outings and have favorite places. You may even have places you haven’t been, but would like to go to.

We want to hear from you!  Just leave your comment on the blog post and we’ll look to schedule something soon.

This week, ahead of Nevada’s Republican presidential caucus, one of the candidates asked what is the purpose of our public lands in Nevada. As someone from the West who has had the pleasure to live in Nevada for the past ten years, I’m happy to shed some light on the issue.

Nevada has some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth but perhaps the best way for me to talk about the purpose of public lands is for me to talk about a specific place that is incredibly special to me, Gold Butte.

Studies have shown that protected public lands are significant contributors to economic growth. A protected Gold Butte, recently named by the Department of Interior as one of America’s “Crown Jewels,” is an ingredient to a prosperous economic future for Nevada.

Our public lands directly benefit Nevada’s economy. From out-of-state tourists to local Nevadans who recreate close to home, all these visitors to our protected public lands spend money, generate jobs and support local communities when they get outdoors. Visitors to Gold Butte are offered a plethora of outdoor recreation opportunities, such as camping, wildlife viewing, hiking, hunting, bird watching, biking and off-roading opportunities with 500 miles of designated 4×4 routes.

These outdoor activities generate enormous economic power. In Nevada, the active outdoor recreation industry contributes $1.8 billion in goods and services and 20,000 jobs to the state’s economy. Conserving our public lands helps safeguard and highlight the amenities that are proven to attract people and business.

Gold Butte is Nevada’s piece of the Grand Canyon. It’s located between the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument, Arizona, and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, just south of the City of Mesquite. It is 360,000 acres of rugged mountains, Joshua tree and Mojave yucca forests, outcroppings of sandstone, and braided washes that turn into slot canyons. It is places like these where we go to explore the outdoors, seek solitude and renew our spirit.

This area is home to ancient remnants of American Indian rock art that fill the sandstone surfaces with stories not completely understood. The town of Gold Butte is named for the historic mining town and tent city of 1,000 miners in the early 1900’s. Long abandoned, it attracts visitors interested in early pioneer history, ranching and ghost towns.

This history is part of the spirit of the American West. As Americans and as Nevadans, we all have a powerful interest in protecting our public-lands heritage. There is no issue as lasting or as worthy as the preservation of our natural and cultural heritage. Theodore Roosevelt, more than a hundred years ago, put it this way: “We have fallen heir to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.”

Western voters agree that public lands such as national parks, forests, monuments, and wildlife areas are “an essential part” of the economies of the West.  We need to be mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of the public lands so that we can share our unique Western heritage with our children and grand-children.

Susan Holecheck is a former mayor of Mesquite.

Burnt Joshua Tree

We all know Gold Butte is a special place and we’d be fooling ourselves to think people won’t continue to discover Gold Butte  and the number of visitors won’t continue to grow. In the wake of more efforts to increase tourism, it’s something we need to embrace and not look the other way. In doing so, we need to make sure Gold Butte has the resources to deal with increased tourism and recreation, including facilities and education. That is why Friends of Gold Butte is working hard for a National Conservation Area with wilderness designation.

The article regarding the executive order to boost tourism to public lands is below:

Allison Winter, E&E reporter/Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012

Link to original article

President Obama will launch an effort today to boost tourism to the United States, in part by promoting visits to national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands.

The new executive order aims to increase travel throughout the United States by speeding visa processing and promoting domestic and international travel opportunities. A particular focus will be efforts to promote visits to public lands, according to the White House.

Obama is scheduled to pitch the plan this afternoon at Walt Disney World near Orlando. The Florida trip comes just before Republican presidential candidates turn their focus on the state, which has its presidential primary at the end of the month.

The tourism effort is part of Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign for job creation initiatives that do not need approval from Congress. The goal is to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States and bolster tourism-related jobs.

“Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come and visit America. And the more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work,” Obama said in a statement before boarding Air Force One to Florida.

If the United States could seize a greater share of the international travel market, it could spur creation of more than 1 million U.S. jobs over the next decade, according to industry projections.

Much of the new executive order focuses on efforts to speed up visa approvals, a process that can currently take weeks for prospective visitors. The administration will try to expedite tourist visas from China and Brazil, two emerging economic powers, by adding more consuls to embassy staff and setting new deadlines for interviews for non-immigrant visa applicants.

The number of travelers from China and Brazil is expected to more than double over the next four years, according to the White House.

The administration will also propose adding Taiwan to the list of countries whose residents do not need visas.

Under the executive order, the Interior and Commerce secretaries will lead a new task force that will develop a national strategy to promote domestic and international travel. A “particular focus” for the group will be promoting visits to national parks, wildlife refuges, monuments and other public lands, according to the White House.

U.S. and international travelers made more than 400 million visits to public lands in 2010, according to the administration, spurring nearly $50 billion in economic activity and 400,000 jobs. The Obama administration says that eco-tourism and outdoor recreation have an “outsize impact” on rural economies, especially in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

Congress already established a nonprofit corporation to promote travel to the United States in 2009. That group, BrandUSA, has developed a website with travel itineraries for major U.S. cities. The executive order calls for the new interagency working group to focus on public lands and coordinate with the nonprofit board.

Lawmakers have in recent years discussed ways to promote more tourism in national parks. Filmmaker Ken Burns, whose documentary on national parks sparked a renewed interest in the park system, told a Senate panel at a 2010 hearing that the federal government should work to entice more visitors to parks.

Senators of both parties, parks officials and local business owners agreed that improvements should be made in marketing the parks as tourist destinations (E&E Daily, April 29, 2010).

Last Friday and Saturday, PBS sent a crew out to Gold Butte to film a story for an upcoming episode of their ‘This American Land’ series. The crew of two interviewed several folks including the southern Nevada site steward for BLM land, the editor for the Desert Valley Times in Mesquite, and a representative of the Moapa Band of Paiutes. The episode will air in May on PBS and we’ll keep you posted on the actual date and time. To learn more about the series, you can go to their website: This American Land

Here is a video we made that documents the experience!

Did you know that areas with state and national designations bring a significant economic impact to surrounding towns? Local businesses in Las Vegas have benefited from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (NCA), St. George businesses have benefited from Zion National Park, and even Overton and Logandale have seen economic benefits from Valley of Fire State Park.

Now it’s time for the town of Mesquite and surrounding communities to reap the potential economic benefits from a NCA with Wilderness in our own backyard–Gold Butte!

We’re looking to compile your letters of support but we need them by 10/31/11. You are welcome to write your own letter of support or you can download the Word doc from this link, sign it, and either email to Nancy Hall or snail mail to P.O. Box 3664 – Mesquite, NV 89024. Any questions, just give Nancy a call on (702) 346-3723.

Time is urgent and time is now! Won’t you take a few minutes to show your support?

Great new video on Gold Butte – thanks Par!

Reprinted from the Las Vegas Review Journal – 9/28/11

On September 10, 2011, the Mesquite League of Women Voters met with Mayor Mark Wier. A number of local and regional issues were discussed including Gold Butte. Below is an excerpt from the Mesquite Local News. You can see why we should all be encouraged!

The idea of branding Mesquite as the “Gate Way” to the Western Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, Gold Butte and other areas was brought up. Wier said he had spoken to both Sens. Reid and Heller about Gold Butte. They would support whatever the community decided it wanted.

“Now is time to sit down and put differences aside and make something happen. There are things we can all agree on. We all want to protect the petroglyphs and the beauty of the area so we need to come to an agreement and ask for federal support so it doesn’t get destroyed. It is a treasure. It really is.”

Click here to read the full article that was posted in the Mesquite Local News.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                                      September 1, 2011

NATIONAL WILDERNESS MONTH, 2011

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

The mystery and wonder of wilderness is deeply rooted in our national character. For many of the first Americans –American Indians and Alaska Natives — the wilderness provided a source of sustenance and a foundation for their ways of life. Later, as explorers and the pioneers of a young country moved west, they found adventure and new beginnings in the landscapes of our Nation.

As we continue our country’s proud journey and explore new opportunities in the 21st century, the importance of maintaining our wilderness has only grown. Protecting our wilderness areas and their riches — clean water, stretches of undisturbed land, thriving wildlife, and healthy ecosystems — is critical to the health of our environment and our communities. Today, wilderness areas serve as places for us to roam, hunt, fish, and find solitude. They are also strong engines of local economies, providing tourism and recreation revenue for communities.

To help preserve our natural surroundings, I established the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to advance a conservation agenda for the 21st century, with ideas stemming directly from the American people. We are working with State, local, and tribal communities to support community-driven initiatives that embody the values and character of our wilderness heritage and other landscapes. And in recognition of the importance of our wilderness, my Administration has expanded protected wilderness areas by 2 million acres.

From our earliest days, America’s identity has been tied to the powerful waterfalls, soaring peaks, and vast plains of its land. As a people, we are defined by its diversity and empowered by its richness. This month, we honor this land that we love, and commit to ensuring our wilderness remains a place where all can experience the spirit that has shaped America. During National Wilderness Month, let each of us embrace our Nation’s legacy of protecting and preserving our vast wilderness for generations to come.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2011 as National Wilderness Month. I invite all Americans to visit and enjoy our wilderness areas, to learn about their vast history, and to aid in the protection of our precious national treasures.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

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