Friday, October 1, 2004

University Launches Public Lands Initiative

10/1/04 Inside UNLV October 2004









Nancy Flagg, left, heads UNLV's new public lands initiative office, which was created to manage a variety of federally funded projects. The program is expected to bring significant funding to campus and to expand research opportunities for faculty and staff. Peg Rees, senior vice provost, was instrumental in bringing the program to UNLV.

UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES PUBLIC LANDS INITATIVE

By Diane Russell


Helping children learn about fragile ecosystems while spending time on a boat at Lake Mead.


Safeguarding part of Southern Nevada history by preserving a historic ranch.


Providing ethnically diverse high school juniors invaluable internship experience through conservation jobs with federal agencies.


These projects – and many more – are increasing faculty and staff research and community service opportunities, while bringing significant sums of research funding to campus.


Management of the projects falls under UNLV’s new public lands initiative office. Opened in May with little fanfare, it was created specifically in response to the federal government’s need to identify partners to help carry out millions of dollars in federal projects. Former longtime UNLV employee Nancy Flagg was hired back to head the office.


“We’re still laying the groundwork at this stage, but the eventual benefit to the university, faculty, staff, and students – not to mention the Southern Nevada community – is significant,” Flagg said.


The funded projects all stem from the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, which requires the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to sell land within prescribed boundaries throughout Southern Nevada, she explained.


“As the federal government sells land in this area, the proceeds from the sales are channeled into particular types of projects,” she said.


“Because of the sheer number of pending and future projects, the four federal land management agencies – BLM, the National Park Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service – have elected to partner with UNLV to carry out selected projects that fit our educational and research strengths.”


The university’s level of involvement will vary from project to project, she said. So far, Flagg’s office has been asked to provide overall project management and oversight for most of the projects it has taken on.


The money raised from the land sales must be used for projects in specific categories:


• Acquisition of environmentally sensitive land in Nevada.


• Capital improvement projects at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Spring Mountain National Recreation Area, and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.


• Development of a multispecies habitat conservation plan in Clark County.


• Development of parks, trails, and natural areas in Clark County.


• Conservation and environmental education initiatives.


 


Portions of the proceeds also benefit the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the state general education fund. Other provisions in the act direct the BLM to convey title to land in the McCarran International Airport noise zone to Clark County and provide for the sale of land for affordable housing.


With the money raised from the land sales, the four agencies involved propose projects to the Secretary of the Interior, who approves or denies each request.


“Many of these projects will provide excellent opportunities for our faculty, staff, and students to participate,” Flagg said. “One of our landscape architects, for instance, might become involved in designing a public park or hiking trail. In another case, an archeologist might help preserve valuable links to our past. A language professor might assist with developing culturally appropriate interpretive signage.


“These projects will not only give the professor – and perhaps his or her students – a chance to participate, but also lets local residents who use that park or trail see how UNLV contributes to the broader community.”


Peg Rees, UNLV senior vice provost and geoscience professor, initiated the university’s involvement after learning of the opportunity through her ties to local outdoor organizations.


“The project ties in well with two of the university’s macrothemes – both the arid lands environmental science, policy, and engineering macrotheme and the one dealing with analysis and preservation of history, culture, and society,” Rees said.


“We’re advancing our mission while at the same time forming partnerships with the federal government and helping our community. What could be better?”




• Red Rock Desert Learning Center, a residential science camp for fifth-graders, which will include a wild horse and burro facility.


• Forever Earth, a floating environmental science laboratory and center at Lake Mead.


• Wonderful Outdoor World on the Water, a recreation program that will introduce economically disadvantaged youths to outdoor recreation, environmental education, fishing and boating, and aquatic resource management.


• Development of Walking Box Ranch, a historic property once owned by cowboy actor Rex Bell and his wife, silent screen star Clara Bow, as a museum and interdisciplinary research field station.


• An area-wide outdoor environmental education strategy that will produce a five-year strategic plan and implementation plan for environmental education in Clark County.


• An internship program for ethnically diverse high school juniors interested in conservation careers with land management agencies.


• A volunteer-based site stewardship program that trains volunteers to help land management agencies protect cultural and natural resources.


• An interagency volunteer program consolidating recruitment and training of volunteers.