ALERTS

Send us your best OHV photos!

Clark County is putting together a slide presentation featuring off road enthusiasts in action. We would like this presentation added to the record of how important keeping this land open and designated for permanent OHV under a congressional conveyance.

Please email us your Nellis Dunes OHV riding photos, and we will post them on our website for everyone to view.   For those of you who are out of state, you can also support this project by sending us your favorite riding, dunes, trail or race photos.  If possible, please send photos via this email in .jpeg format.  Please be sure to include your name, location where the photo was taken, and we will post your submissions to our site.

Remember, this is a family show, so keep the photos clean.

You have a voice... Let's make some noise!

E-mail or call Michael Popp at (702) 455-2312.

Diamond Construction

Many of you have called about the recent construction out at Apex Nellis Dunes.  Here's what we know.

Two zone changes from M-2 to M-1 were approved for the northeast and southeast corners of the Apex intersection.   The Developer is Diamond Construction. The northeast corner, parcel 122-09-210-002, was approved by action of ZC-1498-06 on May 2, 2007.  That application included a design review for a truck stop with use permits for a truck wash, restaurant, on-premise consumption of alcohol, retail sales, and a convenience store with gasoline pumps.  The southeast corner, parcel 122-09-310-001, was approved by action of ZC-1499-06 on the same date.  It also included a design review for a truck stop with use permits for a restaurant, on-premise consumption of alcohol, retail sales, and a convenience store with gasoline pumps.  The applicants original plans included a 126 room hotel on the southern parcel but that portion of the request was withdrawn.  Both applications are under resolution of intent until May 2, 2010 and are subject to several conditions.  Two building permits are in process on the south parcel, 07-35393 for fencing and 07-29460 for grading.  No applications have been filed on the northern parcel.

Also a permit was issued to Diamond Construction by BLM for the development of a temporary road and staging area.    As many of you found out quickly the north entrance and north pad have been blocked off because of the permit.   As a matter of background, these areas and a larger portion of this area are part of a pre-1955 mining claim issued to Chemical Lime Co.  Chemical Lime Co. has mining rights on these sections. Clark County's request for conveyance does not include this land.

Dust Emissions on Nellis Dunes Area (BLM Grant) $382,153

Undergraduate Research: Testing the Effects of Soil Characteristics on Dust Emissions, Nellis Dunes, Nevada.

Proposed Graduation Assistant professor of geoscience Brenda Buck will lead a collaboration of scientists from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) to conduct research needed to assess the effects of dust emissions from public lands on air quality in areas of Clark County, Nevada.  Buck and her colleagues will provide technical assistance to land management agencies under the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (GBCESU), a cooperative and joint venture agreement with BLM.  Darrell Pepper and Xiuling Wang, UNLV School of Engineering; James King and Vic Etyemezian, the Desert Research Institute (DRI); and two postdoctoral appointees in the UNLV geoscience department,: Dr. Dirk Goossens and Dr. Brett McLaurin will collaborate on this project.

Improved scientific understanding of factors contributing to dust generation and transport from public lands in Clark County will improve the quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of BLM efforts to mitigate dust emissions and comply with local, state, and federal air quality regulations.  This project will enable UNLV to provide BLM with technical assistance and scientific research needed to improve the management of public lands; and will support UNLV efforts to develop additional capabilities in applied physical sciences to help the nation address natural resource issues. 

Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas have been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an air pollution non-attainment area for airborne dust and carbon monoxide.  Disturbances and activities on public lands managed by BLM within the non-attainment areas have been identified as a significant source of dust.  BLM has implemented a comprehensive Dust Management Plan to mitigate dust emissions from its public lands and comply with regulations mandated by the Clark County Department of Air Quality Management and provisions of the Clean Air Act.  BLM and UNLV are proposing a cooperative research effort to improve scientific understanding of dust generation and transport issues and assess the effectiveness of various measures utilized by BLM to mitigate dust emissions from public lands in Clark County.

I hope this answers your questions.

Michael Popp