Moapa wildlife refuge now open Sundays

Now the public has twice as many chances to visit a little-seen national wildlife refuge about an hour from the Strip.

Thanks to a recent influx of volunteers, Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge has begun opening its gates on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Earlier this year, the 117-acre sanctuary for the Moapa dace, a small endangered fish, started opening from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Before that, the 30-year-old refuge was mostly off-limits to the public.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to maintain Saturday and Sunday hours at the refuge through Memorial Day 2010, said Dan Balduini, Las Vegas spokesman for the agency.

The refuge also might start opening on Fridays in November thanks to a group of nine volunteers who have agreed to staff the place, Balduini said.

Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge is off state Route 168, which runs between Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 93 northeast of Las Vegas.

The refuge is part of the 1.6 million-acre Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex but has no permanent paid staff of its own.