Partnership cleans up illegal dump site near Great Unconformity

April 26, 2007
LAS VEGAS - The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the UNLV Public Lands Institute worked in cooperation with the Nevada Division of Forestry and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to clean up a large illegal dumpsite in North Las Vegas. Each agency provided staff and equipment to remove as much waste as possible from the site April 24 - 27.

The Nevada Division of Forestry provided an alternative work force to remove the waste from the 16-acre site, which is managed by the BLM and located between Lake Mead Boulevard and Carey Avenue, just east of Los Feliz. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department donated a staff person and loader to help with the clean-up effort. The site is adjacent to Metro’s firing range.

More than 200 cubic yards of waste was removed on the first day. By the end of the week, the 12-person crew removed 440 cubic yards of waste. It is estimated that more than 1500 cubic yards of waste has been dumped on the site over the past several years. The waste is mainly landscaping, construction, demolition and household waste.

“If each cubic yard of this waste was stacked on top of each other, it would reach 4,500 feet, three times taller than the Empire State Building,” said Doug Joslin, program manager of the Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada Program.

“We are fortunate to have the commitment and assistance of these agencies to tackle this problem area on our public lands,” said Jennifer Haley, executive director of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership. “It sets a wonderful example of how much can be achieved when we identify a problem, gather our collective resources, and work together to fix it.”

The Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada Program is funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and managed by the UNLV Public Lands Institute on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. More information about the Public Lands Institute and SNPLMA is available at http://publiclands.unlv.edu.