Dear Friends Who Love Red Rock,
Today was a bittersweet day. We are heartbroken that a developer has chosen to go against public opinion, take $80 million of taxpayers’ money, and move forward with plans for 3500 homes and commercial businesses in Red Rock Canyon. While we are heartbroken, we are not discouraged. The end of this round is a good time to reflect upon all of the good that we have accomplished together thus far, and recognize that this fight is far from over.
This whole venture started in 2004 with a few neighbors and friends who saw that Red Rock Canyon needed a public advocacy arm for health, conservation, safety, and serenity (an escape from urban development and traffic). They came together to create Save Red Rock. Their work was galvanized when an inspirational community neighbor, Don Albietz, was killed in a hit-and-run by a construction truck that had been diverted to SR 159. Were it not for the advocacy of those impassioned few, this exact same scenario would be in play again today with this new settlement agreement.
Without all of us together, here’s what Red Rock Canyon would likely look like today:
- There would be 5,000 houses on Blue Diamond Hill as first proposed in 2004, with accompanying pollution (light, exhaust, and noise), traffic, sewage, dust, water demand, and infrastructure needs.
- There would be a hotel/casino, golf course, and commercial tourist businesses driving additional traffic onto SR 159 past Red Rock.
- There would be decades of construction traffic backing up SR159, impacting safety, serenity, the environment, and recreational access.
- SR 159 could potentially be a high-speed 4-lane highway without a bike lane out to the Scenic Loop, instead of a 2-lane, state-recognized Scenic Byway with a full-width bike lane all the way to SR 160.
- Biking along SR 159 would involve navigating semi-truck traffic and people attempting to pass slow-moving commercial vehicles en route to construction sites.
- The speed limit would remain at 60 mph, increasing the likelihood of fatal vehicle, pedestrian, and wildlife collisions.
- Tourist helicopter flights would be able to launch from Blue Diamond Hill into Red Rock Canyon.
- More burros would be dead without the wildlife fencing we had built.
- The ecosystem would be without the additional precipitation created by the Make It Rain initiative.
- Lovell Canyon would remain covered in shooting debris and toxic lead.
Thank heavens none of that is the case now. Not a single home has been built in any major type of development in the entire Red Rock overlay over the last 20 years, despite astronomical population growth. As with any proposal this large, controversial, and expensive, there will be many more bridges to cross before anything will be built. Participative democracy is the cornerstone of our way of life, and rest assured we intend to participate fully. Our resolution to be heard, make statements, have input on details, and hold the county, the commissioners, and the developer to account, remains strong. While the Clark County commissioners may have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, we did not.
Our whole team, with heartfelt gratitude, thanks you for responding to our announcements and calls, time and time again, to support Red Rock. To you we humbly say, “THANK YOU!” for:
- Sending 2,800 emails to commissioners!
- Sharing and signing the petition! Thousands more signatures were added to the existing petition to Keep Red Rock Rural!
- Blowing up the phones with your calls of support for Red Rock!
- Sharing on your own social media!
- Writing to the media and governing officials!
- Taking part in all the other supportive conservation allies in Southern Nevada who also care about Red Rock!
- Never giving up hope!
Red Rock’s public support is the one thing that will give us power once this moves out of Clark County’s hands. We are gearing up for future fights at levels that are not tied up in legal disputes, and in new venues with new rules of engagement.
So, from heartbroken-for-the-day, we move to heartfelt determination for the future. As long as there is a canyon worth exploiting, there is a canyon worth saving. Thank you from the bottom of all of our “I LOVE RED ROCK” hearts at Save Red Rock,
Heather Fisher, President
And the whole team at Save Red Rock
email: [email protected]
