Summerlin promotes natural area among residents

Since April 1999, new-home buyers in Summerlin have received free one-year family passes to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, located immediately west of the master-planned community. The passes are valued at $20 each.

Stew Gibbons, executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin, said the objectives of this program are twofold.

"Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is one of the Las Vegas Valley's most significant natural treasures," Gibbons said. "Through this program, we hope to encourage our residents to enjoy the area's magnificent beauty as often as possible. Plus, the program has generated tens of thousands of dollars in annual usage fees for the Bureau of Land Management that manages the conservation area. It's a win-win program for residents, for Red Rock and for the BLM."

The proximity of Red Rock is particularly valuable to the developer.

"As one of Red Rock's neighboring communities, Summerlin is the proud owner of some of the most impressive views in the valley," Gibbons said. "With the passes, we are encouraging our residents to personally experience the mountains they look at every day."

Mark Rekshynskyj, acting manager of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for the BLM, said the developer has been a good neighbor for Red Rock.

"This program is another way the Hughes organization has demonstrated its environmental consciousness," Rekshynskyj said.

In 1987, Hughes Corp. and the BLM completed an exchange, which provided a critical buffer zone for what would become Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in 1990.

About 5,000 acres of Hughes land along State Route 159, near where the visitor center now stands, were exchanged for about 3,000 acres of BLM land south of Desert Inn Road and west of Interstate 215. The exchange was facilitated by The Nature Conservancy, a national organization that assists private and public entities in complex land transactions.

Rekshynskyj said the land exchange enhanced Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in several ways.

"The pristine quality of the conservation area was assured for future generations by preventing development from being visible from the visitor center or other locations in Red Rock," Rekshynskyj said. "Consolidation of the boundaries for the conservation area made its management more efficient and cost effective."

Summerlin has ranked as the nation's best-selling master-planned community for nine of the past 10 years, according to an independent survey.

The community is home to eight golf courses, nearly 100 miles of trails, 16 public and private schools, houses of worship, cultural facilities, shopping centers, medical facilities, and business parks.

Homes prices start from the mid-$100,000s to more than $700,000. Custom lots ranging from one-quarter acre to three-quarters of an acre are priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $1 million, and predesigned custom homes are priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million.

Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the high $700s.

To visit the community's home finding center, take Sahara Avenue west, past Hualapai Way to Town Center Drive. Or, take Interstate 215 to Sahara.

The center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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