| Gold Butte National Monument | |
|---|---|
 Rock formations in Gold Butte National Monument | |
   | |
| Location | Nevada, United States |
| Nearest city | Mesquite, Nevada |
| Coordinates | 36°17′3″N114°12′4″W / 36.28417°N 114.20111°W /36.28417; -114.20111 |
| Area | 296,937 acres (120,166 ha) |
| Established | December 28, 2016 |
| Website | https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/nevada/gold-butte |
Gold Butte National Monument is aUnited States national monument located inClark County, Nevada, northeast ofLas Vegas and south ofMesquite andBunkerville. The monument protects nearly 300,000 acres of desert landscapes featuring a wide array of natural and cultural resources, includingrock art, sandstone towers, and important wildlife habitat for species including theMojave Desert tortoise (athreatened species),bighorn sheep, andmountain lion. The area also protects historic ranching and mining sites such as theghost town ofGold Butte, although little but mine openings, cement foundations, and a few pieces of rusting equipment remains. The monument is managed by theBureau of Land Management.
The monument consists of 296,937 acres (120,166 ha).[1] The Gold Butte National Monument fills a gap betweenLake Mead National Recreation Area andGrand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, creating a continuous swath of conserved land and establishing awildlife corridor.[2] Significant wildlife within the borders of the park includeMojave Desert tortoise (athreatened species),bighorn sheep, andmountain lion,[2] as well asGambel's quail andchukar partridge.[1] Important cultural and natural resources within the monument includerock art and sandstone formations.[2] Within the park, "weather-chiseled red sandstone is incised with ancient rock art, and the remains of rock shelters and hearths,agave roasting pits andprojectile points" may be found.[3]
Prior to the area's designation as a national monument, Gold Butte suffered "an increasing level of damage near historic and cultural sites"; an August 2016 report by Friends of Gold Butte reported "dismantled historic corrals and fences, felledJoshua trees andpetroglyphs peppered with bullet holes."[4]
As stated in the presidential proclamation creating the monument, the area remains open for recreation, including hiking, hunting,horseback riding, camping, picnicking, off-highway driving and bicycling on designated roads and trails, sightseeing, the gathering of minerals and other materials important to native peoples who have lived on this lands for thousands of years, and other recreational uses. The area is now closed to industrial development, ensuring that the land is available for recreation.[5] In 1998,Clark County bought out the area's grazing permits and retired them;[6] no new permits will be issued.[7] The monument will permit development and maintenance of existing water rights and transportation infrastructure, but prohibits future claims.[7]
PresidentBarack Obama designated the monument on December 28, 2016, using his powers under theAntiquities Act, after a two-year campaign by local conservation groups, Nevada and Clark County lawmakers and theMoapa Band of Paiute Indians.[2] The designation came on the same day as the designation ofBears Ears National Monument.[8] U.S. RepresentativeDina Titus and outgoing U.S. SenatorHarry Reid, as well as theLas Vegas Paiute Tribe, were also strong supporters of the monument's designation.[3]
Some congressionalRepublicans, along with formerNevada Attorney GeneralAdam Laxalt, have expressed opposition to the monument designation, and have called for it to be revoked by Congress.[7][6]
Twowilderness areas are located within the monument:Lime Canyon andJumbo Springs. The monument also includes two areas managed like wilderness: the Million Hills Wilderness Study Area and the Virgin Peak Instant Study Area.
Nevada portalThe many questions of Gold Butte; Familiar questions around roads, heritage and water rights resurface as Nevadans make sense of their new monument,High Country News (February 23, 2017)
