Special Projects

Over a million visitors rely on the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area to escape the heat and noise of the Las Vegas valley each year. Despite campaigns to promote “Pack It In, Pack It Out” behavior in visitors, tons of trash were continuing to be left littering the landscape each year.

In 2018, after 12 years of collecting over 50 TONS of litter in the Spring Mountains, the Go Mt Charleston team started working to find a better way to help visitors dispose of their trash properly. That year the Green the Mountain project was born. A partnership between SN Conservancy, Heineken USA and community businesses worked together purchase and deploy trash and recycling receptacles plus pet waste stations at the busiest trailheads and recreation areas in the Spring Mountains.

With funding from NV Energy Foundation and Clark County’s License Plate Grant Program, Conservancy staff make regular rounds removing filled bags of waste and recycle materials and centralize them for disposal by Republic Services. And each September, to celebrate National Public Lands Day, SN Conservancy holds a large Green the Mountain litter collection volunteer event that promotes responsible trail trash disposal and remove existing litter from recreation areas.

Helping federal agency partners put the public lands they manage in context, we have partnered on a number of small, local projects throughout the state that enhance the visitor experience and put the history of the area into context with interpretive exhibits and features that promote health and safety in the outdoors.

As part of the renovation of Red Rock Canyon NCA’s Red Springs Boardwalk, SN Conservancy partnered with BLM and a local artist to update the boardwalk’s inventory of interpretive kiosks. Incorporating BLM’s updated style for units of the National Conservation Lands, panels highlight cultural, biological, and geological features that tell the story of this special area.