LETTER: Increasing stresses on Red Rock Canyon

Thank you for Henry Brean’s enlightening piece in Sunday’s Review-Journal detailing the challenges increasing visitation is creating at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

On behalf of the 625 members of the Friends of Red Rock Canyon, whose volunteers provided more than 28,000 hours of service to Red Rock last year — the equivalent of 13 full-time employees — we want your readers to know that it is Friends of Red Rock Canyon, the other and first nonprofit at Red Rock, that staffs the visitor center information desk, removes graffiti, installs fences, stripes parking lots, maintains trails, picks up and hauls trash out of the canyon, removes invasive weeds, manages the Tortoise Habitat, documents cultural resources and much, much more.

We have two paid, part-time employees and more than 100 volunteers who donate their time, talent and passion toward preserving this incredible resource.

Established 35 years ago, Friends has also provided more than $3 million in direct contributions to Red Rock and has the distinction of being the first Friends group affiliated with BLM lands in the United States.

— The writer is president of Friends of Red Rock Canyon.