Our Story

OUR MISSION & VALUES

Save Red Rock is a 501c3 organization with a mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural, cultural, recreational, and scenic resources in and around the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to ensure natural resource sustainability and promote responsible recreational enjoyment for all user groups now and for future generations.

Safety. Advocacy. Community. Recreation. Environment. Dedication.

Red Rock is a sacred canyon and serving as community stewards is a responsibility we take seriously. We work hard to protect the canyon and her visitors, including residents, tourists and wildlife, to foster an environment of safety and serenity. We advocate with local, state, and national agencies and elected officials. We are stronger due to our passionate community. As a trusted voice in Nevada, we work hard every day to share news of the canyon with you and uplift your voices as well. Responsible outdoor recreation is our passion. We work on environmental land preservation and restoration. We have been dedicated to protecting Red Rock for many years and are grateful for your support. As visitation increases, we will continue to meet and conquer the additional challenges. Nevada’s crown jewel deserves nothing less. There is only one Red Rock Canyon. Let’s save her together.
We do not shy away from hard solutions. The dual threats of exploitation and tragedy only strengthen our passion to create a more sustainable future for our posterity.

Grassroots Organization

Blue Diamond: Friends of Red Rock

by Heidi Kyser, Desert Companion, April 15, 2015

They banded together to preserve the peace in their rural town. Along the way, the big city next door took up the fight, too.

To city dwellers on the neon-lit side of Blue Diamond Hill, the small burg nestled in the western crux of the 159 might seem a bit eerie at night. So quiet, so dark. But to the 300 residents of Blue Diamond, it’s a peace worth fighting for — as is the family-friendly atmosphere that permeates the school, library, park, theater and swimming pool in the former gypsum-mine company town. “It’s so nice to have good people around you who know and watch out for each other,” says Heather Fisher, who’s raising four kids there. “We celebrate every holiday together. The store has regulars who sit on the front porch and have coffee together.”

A decade ago, a trucker shattered this tranquil tableau when he hit Metro police officer Don Albietz, who was riding his bike on the 159. His fellow Blue Diamond residents sprang into action, to support the devastated family. Unfortunately Albietz died from his severe injuries, but the community channeled its grief into something positive: SaveRedRock.com. Fisher founded the site to promote safety for recreationists through lower speed limits, expanding the shoulder, and eliminating large trucks from using Hwy 159, but it became a rallying point for anything that might threaten the area’s serenity — most notably Jim Rhodes’ planned high-density development on the defunct mine property.

“It was a 30-year construction project that would have introduced 45,000 car trips a day through the canyon,” Fisher says. “It started out that Blue Diamond was the watchdog for Red Rock, but it turned out that everybody in Vegas realized it would affect them, because they need a place to escape. So, instead of being a little town against a big developer, it became everyone who loves the canyon getting together to preserve its natural setting.”

Instead of being a little town against a big developer, it became everyone who loves the canyon getting together to preserve its natural setting.

Former state Sen. Justin Jones, whose kids attended school in Blue Diamond and whose district included the area, has remained active in negotiating a compromise with Rhodes since losing his seat in the 2014 elections. “The county made it clear that the project would be cost-prohibitive (because of required infrastructure),” Jones says. “We joined forces with Rhodes to press the BLM for a land-swap in the legislature. For the last couple months, things have been on hold, as the BLM has focused on its Resource Management Plan, but we’re keeping our eye on it.”

Meanwhile, the community is keeping its eyes on the BLM, which has included parts of Red Rock in a proposed “disposal area,” meaning they’d be open to development. “Red Rock is not disposable,” Fisher says, echoing a protest refrain. “It’s too sensitive to sell. You couldn’t develop it without impacting the tourism industry here.”

The Don Albietz Inspiration

As such an honorable and influential member of the community was lost, the Don Albietz tragedy struck deep and wide. You may remember the Las Vegas Metro Police Officer who was killed in 2005 while riding his bike in Red Rock Canyon. As a husband, father, friend, police officer, little league coach, Ironman athlete and community hero, his life inspired the entire community to come together to fight for safer and better conditions in Red Rock Canyon, and www.saveredrock.com was born.

At the time, the Southern Highlands and Mountain’s Edge developments were being built and the county had not required them to provide sufficient infrastructure to their communities, so commuter and construction truck traffic was using the Red Rock Scenic Byway as their cut-through. It was a construction truck that hit him. A construction truck that would not have been in Red Rock Canyon, if it weren’t for high density development and poor planning.

The fight for lower speed limits and wider bike lanes and commercial trucking restrictions and high density development in Red Rock took off. State, county, and federal legislations were passed to help prioritize the canyon for recreation and safety. Several victories were won, and some battles continue to wage fiercely in defense of the canyon and her visitors.

Today, the mountain that blocks the city life, noise, lights, and pollution from the unique and natural haven that is Red Rock Canyon, is the very mountain that a developer is trying to develop. He is asking the Clark County Commission to increase his rural zoning by 500%, to create a city in the canyon of over 5000 homes, commercial and industrial uses, and a magnet institution. There is also an additional capacity for double that amount, if the BLM does not remove their lands from an arbitrary disposal boundary.

As long as Don Albietz’ memory and his beautiful family live on, Save Red Rock will never stop fighting to make Red Rock safer for everyone who loves to get away from the city and exercise and experience the fresh air and beautiful, natural escape, so magically tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas city life. We can all carry on Don’s athletic legacy and inspirational character. The Don Albietz legacy lives on as you write letters to the commissioners, sign the petition, and donate to Save Red Rock.