Population growth and rapid urbanization throughout Clark County, coupled with 34 million annual visitors to Las Vegas have increased recreational use of public lands. This creates both opportunities and challenges for the agencies managing these lands.
With Clark County being the 5th largest school district in the U.S., the opportunity to use wildlife refuges, parks and forests as classrooms to connect children with the natural world is endless. Connecting youth directly with natural and cultural resources increases understanding of their significant resources, and develops a stewardship ethic in these future leaders.
Enhanced stewardship is a key to overcoming the challenges that accompany increased discovery of the rich resources of the vast public lands in Southern Nevada.
Challenges include litter, abandoned cars and other dumping in the desert, theft and vandalism of cultural resources, disturbance of fragile desert soils by illegal off-highway vehicle use, and the accidental introduction of exotic species into natural plant communities.
The four federal agencies that make up SNAP have created a new "culture of collaboration" to address these common threats. Fourteen teams of fish and wildlife scientists, archaeologists, law enforcement officers, educators, recreation planners, computer specialists and senior managers are reaching across agency boundaries and shaping new ways of caring for resources in Southern Nevada.
The partnership effort extends beyond the Federal agencies with SNAP teams engaging with organizations such as: Clark County, State of Nevada, Outside Las Vegas Foundation, the Great Basin Institute, the University of Nevada Las Vegas; friends groups such as Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends of Red Rock Conservancy, Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, Friends of Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Southern Nevada Conservancy; and directly with the community through local grade schools and high schools, community centers, and the medical community.
