Southern Nevada Site Stewardship Program receives national recognition

LAS VEGAS - The Southern Nevada Interagency Cultural Site Stewardship Program has been selected to receive the 2007 Department of Interior Cooperative Conservation Service Award. The award recognizes achievements in the area of cooperative conservation that involve a diverse range of entities undertaking collaborative activities. The entities may include federal, state, local and tribal governments; private for profit and nonprofit institutions; other non-governmental entities; and individuals.

The Interagency Cultural Site Stewardship Program is a volunteer-based program to monitor and protect sensitive cultural sites in Clark County. Currently, 269 volunteers monitor several hundred vulnerable sites, including Gold Butte and Sloan Canyon and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Areas. The program, which is funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, is a conservation initiative of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP). SNAP is comprised of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. It is managed by the Public Lands Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

“I am very proud of the work this team does and the difference it makes,” said William K. Dickinson, chairman of the SNAP Board and superintendent of Lake Mead National Recreation Area. “The site stewardship team has effectively developed and managed a model program working with volunteers, the four agencies, the state of Nevada, and UNLV.”

“We are honored to have this national recognition for such a worthy program,” said Margaret (Peg) Rees, executive director of the Public Lands Institute and associate vice president for Research and Community Outreach at UNLV. “We thank the dedicated volunteers for their time and passion toward the preservation of Southern Nevada’s cultural resources.”
Representatives of the Interagency Cultural Site Stewardship Program will be among the honorees at the 64th Department Honor Awards Convocation at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9. The ceremony will be held in the Sidney Yates Auditorium at the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C.

The Public Lands Institute was initiated in 2005 to work in collaboration with federal, state, and non-profit partners to create new knowledge, advance technology, improve education, and engage the community to enhance public lands stewardship. More information about the institute is available at http://publiclands.unlv.edu.