Fossil bed promoted as national monument

February 2, 2010 - 0 comments

Las Vegas -- Support is growing to designate a rich fossil bed in the Las Vegas Valley as a national monument, preservationists in Nevada said.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has designated 11,000 acres along the Upper Las Vegas Wash as a "preferred" preservation site and another 19,000 acres to the north is as rich in fossils, Jill DeStefano, a local preservationist, said.

The move to designate the 30,000 acres a national monument appears to have no opposition, The Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday.

The land primarily is owned and governed by the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, Clark County, Nellis Air Force Base and the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe.
National monument status would provide millions of dollars in federal funding and a boost in tourism and scientific study, said Lynn Davis of the National Parks Conservation Association.

"It's rare to have the opportunity to create a national monument," Davis said. "But it's even rarer for all the people to come together and work together."