Abstract
The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation records (1965-2007) contain information about the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (previously the Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands). It largely consists of newspaper clippings on a variety of events related to Red Rock Canyon from 1965 to 1998 with the bulk from the 1980s and 1990s. The records also include Bureau of Land Management documents pertaining to interpretive efforts, visitation statistics, and law enforcement reports. Also included are the newsletters (1990-1998) and volunteer training manual of the Friends of Red Rock Canyon, a non-profit volunteer organization.
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Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The bulk of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area records consist of interpretive materials, newsclippings, and design plans pertaining to Red Rock Canyon in Southern Nevada from 1965 to 2007. The records contain a variety of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) documents, including a 1991 survey of visitors, the original interpretive plan for Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands (written in 1969), visitation statistics, law enforcement reports, and interpretive and educational materials. Also included are the newsletters (1990-1998) and volunteer training manual of the Friends of Red Rock Canyon, a non-profit volunteer organization that provides thousands of hours of service to the BLM every year. The newsclippings address topics including (but not limited to) recreation, fire, wild horses and burros, volunteers, the creation and expansion of the Visitor Center, development of nearby lands, and the BLM’s interpretive programs. Though the bulk of these clippings are from Las Vegas newspapers, there are also a variety of clippings from national and regional publications. The earliest of the clippings dates from 1965 and the latest from 1998; the bulk are from the 1980s and early 1990s. This collection contains only a few pieces of correspondence.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See xlink:actuate="onRequest" xlink:href="http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions" xlink:show="new" xlink:title="Reproductions and Use"> Reproductions and Use
Arrangement
Material is arranged topically.
Biographical / Historical Note
Red Rock Canyon was part of the public domain until 1936, when Congress included it in the initial establishment of the Desert Game Range (today known as the Desert National Wildlife Refuge). Later, Red Rock and the Spring Mountains were removed from the Desert Game Range and designated the Spring Mountain-Red Rock Recreation Complex. In the early 1960s, a small group, including members of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association (NORA), began devising possible boundaries for a future national park. In 1964, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) utilized the Classification and Multiple Use Act to place some of Red Rock’s 10,000 acres on protective withdrawal status. In 1966 the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (now a part of the National Park Service) studied the Red Rock area and proposed that it be designated a recreation area via federal legislation. On October 5, 1967 nearly 62,000 acres were designated Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands.
Throughout the 1970s the BLM developed Red Rock for visitors and assembled a team of interpretative rangers. Using federal funding, it constructed the Scenic Loop, which facilitated easier access to the area and the Visitor Center opened May 22, 1982. The BLM acquired a 5,000-acre parcel of land from Summa Corporation (a subsidiary of Howard Hughes Corporation) to maintain a buffer between the park and the rapidly-growing Summerlin planned community in Northwest Las Vegas.
In the late 1980s, a push began among southern Nevadans and state politicians to gain more protection for Red Rock by having Congress designate it a national conservation area (NCA). By April 1990, Senator Harry Reid and Nevada Representative James Bilbray introduced bills to this end. President George H. W. Bush signed Public Law 101-621 on November 16, 1990, and officially designated Red Rock as an NCA.
In November 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Public Law 103-450, which more than doubled the size of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (from 83,000 to 196,000 acres). Congressional passage of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) in 1998 added a final 1,002 acres to Red Rock Canyon NCA, bringing the park’s total acreage to 198,002.
- 1876
- James Wilson founds Sand Stone Ranch (presently known as Spring Mountain Ranch) near springs on the eastern edge of present-day RRCNCA.
- 1905-1912
- Lifespan of the Sandstone Quarry operations
- 1936
- Red Rock area becomes part of Desert Game Range (presently known as Desert National Wildlife Refuge). Before this time, Red Rock had been part of the public domain.
- March 1964
- BLM withdraws 10,000 acres of Red Rock Canyon for protection.
- September 1964
- League of Women Voters, at the behest of the BLM, conducts survey of Las Vegas residents to analyze knowledge of Red Rock and desired developments.
- March 1965
- Sub-Committee for the Administration, Development, Protection, and Maintenance of the Red Rock Canyon-Spring Mountains Recreation Complex releases proposal for Red Rock Canyon-Spring Mountain Recreation Complex, including 30 recommendations and a report on the findings of the League’s survey.
- 1966
- BLM proposes that Red Rock be a National Recreation Area and that, as an alternate plan, the BLM and Nevada State Parks Division manage it jointly.
- October 29, 1967
- Senator Alan Bible dedicates Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands.
- March 1968
- BLM’s Washington office receives initial Recreation Management Plan and makes Red Rock its first and top recreation project.
- 1975
- Final Environmental Impact Statement on Recreational Management Plan for Red Rock Canyon filed with the BLM.
- 1976
- Architectural firm (Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey) hired by BLM to develop a new master plan presents Background Report and Master Plan for Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands. The plan becomes the governing document for Red Rock Canyon.
- 1977
- Wildcatters file applications to lease lands in Red Rock for oil and gas drilling.
- November 4, 1979
- BLM releases Draft Environmental Assessment on Oil and Gas Leasing in the RRCRL. A flood of public comment ensues.
- May 22, 1982
- Visitor Center opens to the public.
- 1982
- • BLM designates Pine Creek and La Madre Mountain as Wilderness Study Areas.
- 1986
- • Summa agrees to sell 5,000-acre parcel of buffer zone near RRCRL to BLM.
- Fall 1988
- Summa and BLM exchange buffer-zone lands.
- April 1990
- U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D–NV) and Representative James Bilbray (D–NV) introduce legislation to Congress to make Red Rock Canyon a national conservation area.
- November 16, 1990
- President George H.W. Bush signs Public Law 101-621, officially designating Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
- 1994
- BLM releases Proposed General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (PGMP) to replace the 1976 Master Plan as the governing document for RRCNCA.
- October 31, 1994
- President Bill Clinton signs Public Law 103-450, which more than doubles the size of RRCNCA to 196,000 acres.
- June 1995
- Because RRCNCA increased in size so much, the PGMP developed in 1994 was no longer sufficient in scope. Thus, the BLM develops and releases the Interim General Management Plan to provide an updated, temporary governing document for RRCNCA until it could draft a new GMP providing for the whole of the NCA.
- 1998
- Congress passes the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, adding a final 1,002 acres to RRCNCA.
- 2000
- BLM completes Proposed General Management Plan.
- 2002
- Pine Creek and La Madre Mountain Wilderness Study Areas become Wilderness Areas. Pine Creek Wilderness Area is renamed Rainbow Wilderness Area.
Preferred Citation
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Records, 1965-2007. MS-00399. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials donated by Chris Miller in 1998; accession number 1998-03.
Processing Note
Material was processed by Megan Weatherly in 2009. In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Hannah Robinson revised and enhanced the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards. Subsequently Hannah Robinson entered the data into ArchivesSpace. In 2022, Sarah Jones added additional material and updated the finding aid.
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Administrative Information
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Separated Materials
The following books were separated from the collection and are described separately in the Special Collections catalog:
Barry Howard and Associates, Inc. Red Rock Canyon: Interpretive Plan. Prepared for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management by Barry Howard and Associates, Inc. n.p.: Barry Howard and Associates, Inc., n.d.
Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey. Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands: Background Report. Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Land Management by Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey. Mill Valley, Calif.: Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey, 1976.
Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey. Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands: Master Plan. Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Land Management by Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey. Mill Valley, Calif.: Royston, Hanamoto, Beck, and Abey, 1976.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Final Environmental Impact Statement for Red Rock Recreation Lands. Las Vegas: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 1975.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Interim General Management Plan for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Las Vegas: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 1995.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Team Leader William T. Civish. Oil and Gas Leasing in the Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands: Final Environmental Assessment. Las Vegas: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 1980.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Proposed General Management Plan for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Las Vegas: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 1994.
Sub-Committee for the Administration, Development, Protection, and Maintenance of the Red Rock Canyon-Spring Mountains Recreation Complex. Sub-Committee Report, Spring Mountains Planning Unit. Las Vegas: 1965.