Protect Gold Butte, before visitors overrun it
When U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials arrived at the dedication site of the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway in June 1989, they were met by a line of peaceful protesters from the Moapa Band of Paiutes. The Paiutes were deeply concerned about the road. An official byway meant increased access, more motorized vehicles and the potential for disrespect and destruction of sites that are part of the Moapa Paiutes' cultural heritage.
Sadly, the foresight of the Moapa Paiutes was accurate. Gold Butte has experienced unremitting destruction, and the need to permanently protect it grows more urgent every day.
The Southern Paiutes have been in this region since time immemorial. They looked to the land for their livelihood and found food, shelter and water to sustain a traditional lifestyle. They left behind their stories on the rock walls of Gold Butte — stories that are not replaceable if lost. We need to act now to preserve Gold Butte before its treasures disappear.
Equally significant is Gold Butte's natural environment. With elevations that range between 1,500 and 8,000 feet, this land hosts a variety of ecosystems that provide habitat for threatened and rare species. The threatened desert tortoise thrives in the lower desert regions. Desert bighorn sheep grace the higher, remote elevations in the southern half of Gold Butte. Endangered plant species, such as the Las Vegas bearpaw poppy, grow in undisturbed soils. The relict leopard frog, once thought extinct, has been found in the rare but healthy springs tucked away in small oases. The area has so many unique biological and cultural qualities that the BLM has designated the entire region, approximately 348,000 acres, as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern — an administrative title that requires a specialized management plan.
Today, there are many more visitors to Gold Butte. Most of them travel respectfully along Gold Butte Road, observing signs that direct them to stay on the road. But there are many others who don't respect the land or its significance. They tear across landscapes that contain clues to the people who once lived here — through ancient agave roasting pits and sacred springs, and into archaeological and historical sites. They shoot bullets into the petroglyphs and scratch out the images that were carved long ago. They destroy and remove signs. They dig up ancient graves. They cut fences and drive where they are not supposed to go. They use the land and leave their waste and trash behind. The desert is trampled, habitat is lost. The threatened species, having lived here for tens of thousands of years, are steadily losing ground in the face of this intrusion.
A record of the past is written in Gold Butte, but its history and its natural environment are being erased — degraded by irresponsible, disrespectful and sometimes intentionally malicious behavior.
The problems of vandalism, trash and intrusions are getting worse. The recent damage report released by Friends of Gold Butte provides evidence that a new, more intrusive human threat has hit. It's a threat that is illegally defacing the fragile desert landscape, using heavy equipment to dig an unauthorized trench, miles long, to bury a pipe for water delivery, destroying prime desert habitat and threatening plants and animals. It's a threat that blatantly disregards the rules of this Area of Critical Environmental Concern and the ethic of conservation. A threat that, left unchecked, will destroy the last continuous piece of undeveloped Mojave Desert land in Nevada. Even worse, this threat is a challenge to the idea of public land, that this land is ours and belongs to all Americans.
We need to ensure permanent protection for Gold Butte now, either through congressional or administrative action, so that future generations can experience Nevada's piece of the Grand Canyon and see this majestic landscape as our Paiute ancestors saw it.
Darren Daboda is chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes. Anthony Barron is former president of Friends of Gold Butte.
