Page 1 - 2001 DT 4 issues

W h a t ’ s I n s i d e !
Featured Articles
A Gift to the Canyon.............................1
Native American Communication.........7

Special
In Memoriam.......................................3
Quiz.....................................................6
Departments
March 2001 News & Notes.......................................2

Programs & Hikes................................4
Desk Schedule......................................6
Bulletin Board......................................8

A Gift to the purchased a tract of land from Howard Book Debut
Hughes Corporation located on what is
Canyon now the western terminus of Sahara Av- The Red Rock Interpretive Asso-

by Barbara Wolin enue, adjacent to the Red Rock Canyon ciation will be hosting a reception
National Conservation Area. The tract
was part of a parcel exchanged in a land on March 31, from 2:00 to 4:00
ed Rock Canyon is a special p.m. in honor of the first printing
place. Just ask anyone who swap between Howard Hughes Corpora- of Plants of Red Rock Canyon.
Rhas ever spent time hiking its tion and the Bureau of Land Management Co-authored by our own Larry
(BLM). Construction began on the Red
canyons or admiring the view from the Rock Country Club, a luxury golf com- Clinesmith and Elsie Sellars, this
Scenic Drive. Located just 20 miles munity with plans for two Arnold Palmer 104 page book is chock-full of
from the Las Vegas Strip, this silent and golf courses, in 1997. photos and information on can-
timeless landscape beckons to glitter- As a youngster from a modest yon plants.
weary vacationers, bird-watchers, hikers, middle-class family in California, Bone
cyclists, rock climbers and Join RRCIA and Friends to con-
vehicle-bound couch pota- gratulate Larry and Elsie and snap
toes in equal measure. up a copy of this unique book
Perhaps because of before the start of wildflower
its very proximity to the season.
“Mecca” of commercial-
ism, Red Rock Canyon’s
effect on visitors is some- money was to be used for the protection
how intensified. No one and enhancement of the Canyon. The
leaves without taking a BLM directed that the money be donated
piece of it with them. But instead to Friends of Red Rock Canyon
as development draws for such purposes. After much discussion
closer, the anxiety over among members, the gift was gratefully
its effect on the Can- William Bone, CEO, Sunrise Company accepted. Annual contributions are en-
yon deepens, even for abling needed projects that could not be
casual visitors. They want assur- funded through entrance fees.
ances that this jewel will continue to be spent many a vacation camping, hiking, William Bone has a history of
protected, not only from encroaching and fishing, pursuits he still enjoys. Red conservation philanthropy In the early
development but from being “loved to Rock Canyon was a National Recreation 1980’s, he raised over $2 million and do-
death.” As visitation increases, so does Area with no paved roads when he started nated land in Riverside, CA to establish a
12,000 acre Preserve which included the
the cost of maintaining and preserving bringing his family for weekend outings. 1,920 acre Thousand Palms Oasis, the
the resource. Even now, he occasionally steals away to second largest grove of California Fan
camp in the Colorado wilderness or fish
William Bone, chief executive of- Palms in California. He advised the state
ficer and founder of Sunrise Company, the Salmon River. to implement a developer-tax on bordering
In 1997, Bone offered a $250,000
is a developer who began building in contribution to the BLM ($250 for each lands, his own included, which raised an
Las Vegas in 1971. In the mid-90’s, he
house sold in Red Rock Country Club) (Gift, continued on page 7)
over a projected 5-year sales period. The