Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Draft Business Plan
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Southern Nevada District Office (SNDO), has developed the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Business Plan and would like the public’s view on the proposed fees/plan.
According to the plan, “The draft business plan demonstrates the functional responsibilities, operational standards and financial picture of Red Rock. Its goal is to provide comprehensive information about Red Rock’s operations and finances. It seeks to clearly analyze where revenue shortfalls exist and to address strategies for addressing these shortfalls. Comments will be accepted on the draft business plan from August 14 to November 16, 2009.”
As you can see, the newly proposed fees in their draft business plan is to charge bicyclists and pedestrians a $3 day fee to access the scenic loop. What’s more interesting is they actually have a line item for accessing the Red Rock Overlook on SR-159! Wow…they may not charge a fee to visit the overlook on this draft, but it must be something they are thinking of doing in the future.
Why do they want to charge these fees? According to their plan, “The additional revenue will be used to meet project goals in three categories: provide for public enjoyment and visitor experience, enhance recreational opportunities and Red Rock resource protection. The proposed fee increase will cover 100 percent of these costs.
Projects that would be accomplished with the additional funding include: maintenaince for the 13-Mile Scenic Drive, parking lots, new and original visitor centers and Mojave Discovery Center; road signs and informational kiosks, treatment of dirt roads, law enforcement patrols, expanded visitor service hours, rehabilitate present high-use recreation areas, add recreational vehicle dumping station at the campground, rehabilitate Oliver Ranch area to remove public safety hazards and enable public use, plan and develop Ash Springs area, complete a comprehensive trail plan, include graffiti removal program, restore plant productivity on disturbed areas, eradicate non-native species with an emphasis on tamarisk removal, create and implement a comprehensive cultural Resource Management Plan, protect and rehabilitate Garland in-holding.”
Send in your comments and let the BLM know how you feel about the new fees.
You need to send your comments to the BLM and let them know what you think. They are asking for our public comments in the form of mail, email & fax letters. Here’s how you should submit your comments if you are interested:
You may submit your comments in writing in the following ways:
• Mail or hand-deliver comments to:
BLM Southern Nevada District Office
Attn: Mark Tanaka-Sanders
4701 North Torrey Pines
Las Vegas, Nevada 89130
• Hand-deliver written comments and/or comment cards to the Red Rock visitor center comment box.
• Hand-deliver written comments and/or comment cards to the Red Rock Campground host.
• Fax comments to 702-515-5023
• Submit comments via email to redrockbp@blm.gov
Remember, they are only accepting public comments until November 16th, 2009. So if you want to address your concern for the newly proposed fees in this draft business plan, now is the time to do it!
Read the entire Red Rock Canyon Business Plan on the BLM Website here:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo.html
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/red_rock_canyon_business.html
Tags: blm, bureau of land management, red rock national conservation area
August 14th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I was under the impression that bicycle access to the park would always remain free becuse funds to construct the so-called Bicycle Pavillion (that building with the restrooms out in the parking lot) were donated to the park by a benefactor of the Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club. Was I misinformed or has park management decided not to honor its word?
August 14th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I hike and ride through Rde Rock all year long. As a result,I purchase an annual pass every year. I have no problem with that as long as it keeps Red Rock what it is. I would like to see an increase in law enforcement as now I think it’s non-existent. There are some issues with traffic and noise-abatement that need to be addressed especially if we’re going to pay more.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
@Jim Cullen - You should contact the Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club and find out from them. I have no information about this. Once you find out, you should come back and post a comment again to keep us informed.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
As I remember, when the fees were last discussed years ago, an agreement was forged between the LVVBC and BLM that if the LVVBC “Adopted” the stretch of highway one mile each side of the entrance, bikes would not be charged an entry fee. If memory serves, it was spearheaded by Barry Vinik. Some other old-time LVVBC members may have more info.
Of course, the Adopt-A-Highway program came to an end when that drunken stripper plowed into those teenagers doing highway cleanup a few years back. We’ve been kind of getting a free ride ever since. Anyone know if that program ever came back? If so, maybe we can re-install that agreement. Maybe we can agree to do a twice-a-year cleanup to ride free even without that official program.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
if will lead to better roads and safety for cyclists, then by all means!
everyone should buy annual passes anyway….it’s a small price to pay.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
@Ken - I do believe that the LVVBC still offers this clean-up in Red Rock. I remember sending out emails looking for people to volunteer their time back in May (the cleanup date was May 9th). In fact, looking back at the calendar listing, I noticed that the LVVBC does this clean-up quarterly…we should all help them on their next outing.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
The cars are who should pay, If I drive my car and park outside the park to avoid fees then I’m to blame but if I ride my bike all the way there why should I pay? This idea of “we can use the extra money” never stops! Who ever is in charge is lacking any type of vision for the future. It’s bad enough we live in a city that has very minimal places to go for clean outdoor fun, and now you want to charge? Do what the Carolina State Parks do… Just ask for donations at the gate, you would be surprised how many people would accept that and participate as well. Come on man keep the earths beauty free to us that make the most of it.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
one more thing, if it happens, just boycott it! We will set up an event and rush the gate!
August 14th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
On one hand, I’m all for supporting areas like Red Rock NCA. But 99.9% of bicyclists have no impact on the area. No road wear, no trail use - just riding straight through.
I think I’d be OK with a $1.00 fee. I had never been to Spring Mountain Ranch and rode bike up that road a few months ago, and there’s a $1.00 fee for bicycle entry. Other than having to stop and deal with payment, I was fine with that. It’s a beautiful area and I’d like it to continue to be preserved.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
People walking and biking the loop should not be charged - it’s the cars and motorcycles that cause the damage to the roads and the need for repairs to be done. Red Rock should be encouraging more people to walk and bike the loop and truly enjoy the beauty of nature out there! I bike the loop quite often and thoroughly enjoy it as one of the free outdoor activities that us locals are privvy to! No traffic-congested strip or tourists - just beautiful nature!!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I have absolutely no problem paying this fee. As cyclist we use the park and should have to pay for it. I agree that the price should not be as much as a car since we don’t do the potential wear and tear that a car does, but we do use the roads and want them maintained, including restrooms and law enforcement. It would also be nice to have extended hours especially in this summer heat.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I would be disappointed if this came into force. Whilst I agree that we all have a responsibility to provide for the protection of the area and reduce any impacts upon the landscape, it is car and truck owners which have a vastly greater footprint than cyclists and hikers. I would want to see greater protection given to cyclists if we are providing what looks like a considerable proportion of future revenue.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
The bike club does still do a regular clean up along their assigned stretch of the highway.
As for them being able to finance 100% of their programs with the increases, no they won’t. Because, as Terrance says, I won’t be going that gate at the entrance to loop anymore on my bike and when the jack the fee up for driving a car through, I’ll find other places to go. I go through that gate now about twice a month in my car. I realize I’m only one person, but I’ll be one less person driving in.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Don’t be cheap! Great stuff is never free. Bet you don’t mind spending $3 on a cup of Starbucks before you ride
August 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I have bought an annual pass for the last 10 years. I don’t have a problem with charging an entrance fee, but I do have a problem with a new 23 million dollar visitor center and no money going for additional parking or making a decent trail. I have hiked and climbed all over the southwest and Red Rock Canyon is the most mismanaged place I have ever seen. The rangers are a joke. Try 14 years of hiking and I have seen only one ranger on the trails. Most of the employees have no idea the names of the peaks. I don’t know how they feel about bicyclists, but Red Rock employees are very against hikers.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
They should allow vendor sales at the rest stops for water, sports drinks, sun block, heck get a bike shop up there and sell co2 cartridges and tubes. How much do I spend at 7/11 in the middle of a ride because my water bottles turn to swamp juice? With that said, if my $3 is going to go to new, lower speed limit signs for motor vehicle traffic, maybe some lighting or guard rails for safety then so be it. I’d like to see specifics on what we’re getting for our money though.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
For those of you, who vigorously supported the BLM’s plans to build a side path along SR 159, please don’t feign surprise at the idea of charging pedestrians and cyclists a gate fee. Did you seriously believe it would be free? As President and a founding member of LVVBC, I am not aware of any deal with the park officials giving cyclists a free lifetime gate pass in exchange for continuing the LVVBC’s SR-159 clean-ups or any other reason. Besides, anyone who believes the Machiavellian specious sophistry spoken by “gummint” bureaucrats deserves the inevitable kick in the seat of the pants. Even if someone thought to get such a deal in writing, that was so many administrations ago.
I was present the day Senator Harry Reid and Representative James Bilbray dedicated the now razed Homer Morgan Bicycle Pavilion at the Visitor Center. Senior LVVBC member Homer Morgan (God reset his soul) built most of the pavilion himself. I didn’t hear anything then about a lifetime free pass either.
I’ve cycled in Red Rock for over 3 decades and can attest to the dramatic and welcome increase and steady stream of cyclists and pedestrians over that time. To the BLM, that’s a dramatic increase of a potential “revenue” stream.
No-fee to gate-fee, is that the “change” you expected? The camel’s nose is in the tent now. We don’t have to like it or just roll over. Thank you all for caring.
Jim Mathews
August 15th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I feel sure that we cyclists could see this gate fee coming for a long time. Especially now with the proposed bike path plan to parallel SR 159. I’m afraid that we will be fighting an up hill battle and loose to the BLM in the end. There normally are bike fees charged at our national and state parks around the country. I was really surprised that there wasn’t one in place a long time ago at Red Rock because of it’s special status as a National Conservation Area Park on BLM land. I understand that cyclists and hikers do not pose the cost problems and road maintenance that automobiles cause, but we have had it free for a very long time and it looks like it will soon be coming to an end.
The proposed fee plan has and will anger many of our Las Vegas valley cyclists, visitors and tourists that have been using the loop because it is beautiful, free, challenging, available and no stop signs or red lights for thirteen miles. The only thing that will change at Red Rock is the free part. For those who wish to continue cycling for free, there are other places in the Las Vegas valley available but not as close, accessible, have stop signs, have red lights and not nearly as beautiful as Red Rock.
However, I would propose that the BLM to come up with a yearly gate fee that just covers cyclists and hikers. If they are proposing a three dollar daily fee, then a yearly fee would be four times the daily or twelve dollars. This would be similar to the annual auto gate fee.
Jim Little
August 16th, 2009 at 10:01 am
No Fee! Give me a break…we already pay taxes to the federal government, and then Nevada receives federal funding for parks and recreation areas. Same old government BS, they never have enough of our money to mismanage. God put enough nature on this earth for us to enjoy at no cost; mind you that means that we need to self-govern our actions. IE: don’t litter, clean up after yourselves, charge fees when maintenance DOES need to take place, NOT as an ongoing source of revenue. Besides, what has BLM done with all of the money they keep receiving when they sell off portions of the 90% or so of Nevada that is under their control, to master planned community projects.
Take the money & power out of the government’s hands; it is our personal responsibility. I agree with whomever offered the suggestion of taking donations at the gate; then you yahoo’s that like to give all of your money to Big Daddy Government can do so at will.
August 16th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I am disappointed that cyclists are now going to be charged, but I will pay and use the loop less. Most likely, the revenue the park service management thinks they will raise will be far less than they anticipate because public service managers seem to not understand basic economics. The demand to ride the loop will diminish as fees increase. Since many people try to ride the loop multiple times, the small $3.00 fee could quickly become significant. Aside from the nuisance factor, a $1.00 fee would not raise much ire except for the precedent the fee would set.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:46 am
No Fee! Give me a break…we already pay taxes to the federal government, and then Nevada receives federal funding for parks and recreation areas. Same old government BS
Almost zero of these funds actually gets to your local park. This is the case all over the country. Most parks have abandoned relying on Federal/State support altogether and are raising funds on their own with the stated goal of operating with zero funds from the Fed/State.
If you are actually serious that this should be free, then you would probably never go to the park anyway. If you would only use it if it were ‘free’ then you are not helping solve the problem of keeping the park open and then adding insult to injury by being blissfully unaware of how your tax dollars are allocated and then complaining about it.
August 17th, 2009 at 10:48 am
The problem people are not addressing enough here is that government, like all the rest of us, needs to stop expanding. They do not need to do MORE and charge MORE for it. They need to maintain what exists with the budget they already have. That’s what the rest of us have to do. It’s not a matter of whether or not pedestrians and bicyclists should be charged for using the park. It’s a matter of “enough is enough.” Unless they can prove a true shortfall in revenue that will prevent them from maintaining what already exists, they do not need more money. If they want to build a new path, they should do it with bond money after voters choose to allow it. Increasing fees to pay for a one-time project is not the proper way to fund expansion projects. These people in government need to realize they can’t just keep charging more to pay for their incompetence and continuous greed. Would it hurt us to pay $3 to get into the park? No. Why not make it $20? $30? Why don’t we just raise our sales taxes to 50% (”as long as it makes things better for all of us”)? I doubt that would ever be enough for them, either. They’ll never stop if we don’t stop them.
August 20th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Steve Patchin… Amen!
Government goes through the motions to make it seem legal then finds a way to push it through. Steve is on the money. A prime example was my local trail in Florida, Quite Waters Park was crushed by a hurricane and instead of using tax payer money, entrance fees, and so on to rebuild… The city sold the land to a private developer, just like that!
It is total BS when the only solution is MORE MONEY MO MONEY MO MONEY! Like a famous rapper once said - “More Money, More Problems” - government is a prime example of this!
Ride Like The Wind!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I personally don’t have a problem with (and would even support) the increased fees, including a new fee for bicyclists, if they use some of the new funding for increasing enforcement to crack down on the speeders and reckless drivers, especially the guys on the “crotch rockets” that have been terrorizing hikers, joggers and cyclists out there for years. I know there are a lot of other problems out there (including closed and NASTY restrooms), but this one has been particularly frustrating for me through the years. I’ve personally had several close calls and encounters with the guys and every time I complain about it to the staff at Red Rock or the people at the BLM office the response is always the same – not enough funding to properly patrol and catch them. In reviewing the Draft Business Plan for this fee increase, there’s a lot of discussion about things like deferred maintenance, and new facilities, but hardly a mention of increased security and enforcement. I strongly believe that Health and Safety issues should have priority over everything else!
My hope is that the cycling community can take this opportunity to voice our concerns about making TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ENFORCEMENT primary issue during the public comment period for the Business Plan Draft. The public comment period expires on November 16, 2009.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:42 am
I second that. TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ENFORCEMENT first!
That’s right, Don! I didn’t see very many cyclists at the meeting, but it’s not too late, you can email your comments to the BLM until Monday the 16th of November.
I have some ideas that I will be bringing to BLM offices in Reno and DC, involving:
1) Clean Energy Incentives: Pay to pollute, get rewarded for not polluting
2) Park Entrance Booths on 159 (at both cattle guards), instead of on the loop only, to increase safety manageability and decrease unnecessary traffic
3) That some of the funding go to dedicated traffic enforcement on 159 and maintenance of the new bike path. For more information on that, go to http://www.saveredrock.com.
4) set up an annual price for bikes and get a magnetized quick, easy card swiper
and more…Heather Fisher, SaveRedRock.com
February 16th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Let’s all suggest two very easy fixes:
1. An annual pass line so that both cars and bikes with annual passes can be waived through instead of waiting in line behind daily pay visitors.
2. A bike sticker or tag instead of the card so we can just roll through the annual pass line without coming out of the clips and digging for a card.
I’d pay double for those easy fixes!
February 17th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Scott, the problem with your second idea is the following: what about those who own more than one bike? What about families with 2 or 3 vehicles? I can think of people who would need 5 or 6 passes. Just carry the pass in your wallet.
National parks, recreation areas and conservation areas have suffered for years from budget shortages. The crime rates in our overcrowded national parks is horrifying. Ask anyone who works at one. Rangers take their lives in their hands when patrolling, and fear stumbling across pot fields or meth labs. The problem can be mitigated by user fees. They cut the number of casual visitors (who tend to cause the most damage), while raising much-needed funds for repair, upkeep, improvements and personnel. It is also eminently fair. Those anti-tax folks would complain that their tax dollars go to parks they don’t visit, so the most fair method is to charge more to those who use them.
No one likes it when change hits their wallets. But if we want amenities, we need to grow up and realize we need to pay for them. Or, we could just borrow the money for them, too, from China–anyone want to see more national debt? Taxes are higher in virtually every nation that’s listed above us on every standard-of-living ranking I’ve seen in the past 10 years. You get what you pay for. Personally, I’d be willing to pay more taxes for a better life.
I, for one, will buy an annual pass. It’ll work out to a whopping $2.50 a month. That’s a 6-pack every other month. I think I’ll survive.