Nevada

Susan Voyles

Saying the nuisance ordinance has exhausted the public and themselves, Washoe County commissioners gave initial review to the law Tuesday night and scheduled a public hearing and vote Oct. 27.

"We have been at this for 20 months," Commissioner Robert Larkin said. "Our citizens are exhausted. We are exhausted."

Susan Voyles

Washoe County commission Tuesday will review a long-awaited nuisance ordinance that could limit the number of junk cars on properties and create new limits on how close off-road vehicles may be driven near homes.

The ordinance also adds as nuisances tall weeds, overgrown plants, trespassing at foreclosed properties and buildings used by criminal street gangs. They also were defined as nuisances in laws approved by the Nevada Legislature this year.

On this day 45 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which immediately added protections to 9.1 million acres of pristine national forest land.

The act permanently saved most of those acres from being marred by construction, mountain bikes and motorized vehicles. Only existing private property and certain existing rights within the affected national forest land, including for water, grazing, and oil and gas exploration, were exempted from many of the restrictions.

Jeff Delong

Federal land managers in Nevada have launched a publicity campaign designed to persuade off-highway vehicle riders to stick to designated trails and protect a delicate landscape.

And if a recent report by congressional investigators is correct, asking nicely might be one of the best ways to control problems posed by some OHV riders. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management often lack adequate strategies, money and resources to control off-highway activity, the Government Accountability Office concluded.

Jeff DeLong

Federal land managers in Nevada have launched a publicity campaign designed to persuade off-highway vehicle riders to stick to designated trails and protect a delicate landscape.

And if a recent report by congressional investigators is correct, asking nicely may be one of the best ways to control problems posed by some OHV riders. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management often lack adequate strategies, money and resources to control off-highway activity, the Government Accountability Office concluded.

Both developments come as the government strives to control impacts from a fast-growing recreational activity — an issue that has environmentalists insisting too little has been done to protect the land and many riders arguing they are being improperly restricted from public property.

Victor Morales

LAUGHLIN, Nev. – Randy Luden scaled a mountain of boulders etched with dozens of petroglyphs that could be thousands of years old, hoping to get as close as possible to the records of a past civilization. The Las Vegas man didn’t think he was damaging the representations made by descendants of Mojave Indians because he was careful and wore soft shoes.

That was of no consolation to two Mojaves watching from afar.

Jean Reid Norman

On the fast track to building solar energy in the desert, the only obstacles may be desert tortoises, vegetation and off-road riders.

Those were the three concerns residents raised during the first of three meetings the Bureau of Land Management is holding on a proposal for a 400 megawatt solar power plant NextLight Renewable Power wants to build on 7,000 acres outside Primm. The meeting was held Wednesday night at the Primm Valley Casino.