Red Rock Celebrates 25 Years as a National Conservation Area
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Las Vegas – Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a scenic jewel of southern Nevada, marks a birthday today. Legislation designating the rugged cliffs and canyons as Nevada’s first national conservation area was approved 25 years ago today.
President George H. W. Bush’s signature on the public law creating the national conservation area was the capstone in a long history of public interest in protecting the dramatic landscape and natural resources of Red Rock Canyon, now one of the most popular areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
According to records maintained by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Congress first recognized the significance of the site in 1936, designating Red Rock Canyon as part of the Desert Game Refuge, now known as the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.
In the early 1960s, a small group began looking at the area as a potential national park, and in 1964 the BLM added protections, withdrawing 10,000 acres at Red Rock from mining and other development.
The first formal designation at Red Rock came in 1967, when the BLM designated 62,000 acres as Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands. The first master plan for management was developed in 1976 and public interest in protecting the area continued to grow.
The BLM opened the visitor center in 1982, and reported 20,000 visits the first year.
The public law establishing the national conservation area set aside 83,000 acres to be conserved, protected and enhanced for current and future generations. It recognized that natural and cultural resources as unique and nationally important.
A second public law in 1994 enlarged the national conservation area to 196,000 acres and a smaller addition resulted from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act in 1998.
Finally, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 added more than a thousand acres to Red Rock Canyon.
Today Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area sees more than two million visitors a year, who come for hiking, rock climbing, bike riding, horseback riding and sightseeing. More than 900 volunteers contribute more than 30,000 hours per year conserving Red Rock Canyon and helping visitors to discover its wonders.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.