Page 49 - 2006 DT 12 Issues

I n T h i s I s s u e

Featured Article
DNWR................................................1
Special
Switchback........................................5
2006-07 Budget Proposal..................7
Departments
News & Notes....................................2
July 2006 Programs & Hikes.............................4
Desk Schedule..................................6
Bulletin Board..................................8

DNWR: A Hidden Wilderness Close at Hand and rusted rebar remain from some of

by Bill Clayson, CCSN History Instructor the old Gunnery Range facilities.
Sarah’s usually a good sport when
ompared to the Spring Moun- the north end of the Las Vegas Valley, it comes to her Dad’s nature hikes, but
tains or Red Rock Canyon, the is much further than it appears from the this time an up-close look at the desert
Cmountain ranges north of Las freeway. As we pushed north, gravel excited her sense of adventure. From
Vegas attract few visitors. For most roads deteriorated into rutted trails. We her bedroom window, the hills and
Las Vegans, the mountain ranges that spent nearly a half-hour twisting, turn- peaks of the desert seem to be only
comprise the Desert National Wildlife ing and jostling through rocky arroyos shades of brown. A closer look, par-
Range (DNWR) seem almost two and thick clusters of creosote before ticularly in spring, reveals brown to be
dimensional, like a stage backdrop reaching the base of the mountains. only a background color to red, white
for the sprawling suburbs. and grey rock, many shades of green
Within those ranges, how- plant life and a rainbow of
ever, lies a wilderness of other colors in the flowers.
rugged canyons and deserts, Orange and pink mariposa,
of forests and snow capped white desert daisies, yellow
peaks, where bighorn sheep primrose and other varieties
outnumber humans and filled the spaces between
bald eagles and mountain the limestone rocks. Yellow
lions hunt for prey. Set aside and white butterflies and
by Congress in the 1930s strange orange insects with
to protect fragile bighorn heads as big as her thumb
habitat, DNWR remains the flew through the rocks and
largest wildlife refuge in the plants. Sarah and I agreed
lower 48 states. I ventured that the rest of the family
into DNWR on several oc- Lunch time with Joe and Sarah in the DNWR would enjoy a closer look
casions in the past year. as well.
My first trip was with my 5 Sarah waved at off-roaders on motor- My wife, Darby, and son, Joey,
year old daughter Sarah. Last year’s cycles and quads from the air-condi- joined us on our second trip into
abundant rainfall created a record tioned comfort of my Dakota, which DNWR in August. On this occasion
bloom throughout the Mojave region. is equipped with four-wheel drive—a we went to the official entrance at Corn
I wanted to show Sarah how the necessity in DNWR. The boundary of Creek Station, which is left off US 95
desert comes to life in vibrant color the range is marked by signs along a just beyond the Snow Mountain inter-
after a rain. We drove north of the high tension power line which has an change of the Paiute Reservation. The
215 Beltway on Losee Road where east-west maintenance road that at one DNWR Visitor Center is surrounded
it becomes a semi-improved gravel time serviced the Las Vegas Army Air by a grove of tall trees and meadows
road. The distance between 215 and Corps Gunnery School during World
the Las Vegas Range, which walls off War II. Cracked concrete foundations DNWR, continued on p.6