Preservation: Park advocates call on neighbors

The Tule Springs Preservation Committee has heard numerous proposals over the past few years to bring in resources and improve the dilapidated Floyd Lamb State Park: money from the city, money from land sales, park concessions, zoos and amusement parks. In the same few years, the committee has seen with its own eyes what a few regular folk with a little work ethic and a lot of friends can accomplish.

The private advisory group, founded five years ago, acts as an advocate for the 2,040-acre park on the northern edge of Las Vegas, which was originally named Tule Springs and has a prominent role in the history and prehistory of Las Vegas. In its younger days, a portion of the park was the site of a major paleontological and archeological dig. Before then, it was a divorce/dude ranch -- a uniquely Nevada phenomenon -- where couples, including at least one Hollywood actress, would wile away their days while awaiting Nevada residency to obtain a quick divorce.

Today, the park draws fishermen, horseback riders, bird feeders and dog walkers, among others, who come for what are termed "passive recreation" uses. More than 180,000 people visited the facility last year, making it the second-most visited state park (following Lake Tahoe). It features four ponds, large lawns, tall trees, myriad birds, carriage and horseback riding, barbecues, an adjacent gun range and a state-run plant nursery.

For the record, new committee president Don White would love to see the park receive an infusion of capital from any of the proposed sources and the group continues to explore possibilities. The park, he said, could easily spend millions of dollars to replace its crumbling infrastructure, build a visitor's center and displays that explain the site's scientific and historical significance, and add new features such as overnight camping and a concert venue.

For now, however, the focus is on results. With the spread of Las Vegas to the boundaries of the park, the committee has taken a new direction: resident involvement.

White and other committee members were encouraged by the completion of the park's first major improvement, built on the cheap: a trailside rest that includes equestrian and bicycling facilities, a covered picnic area, a restroom, and water fountains for people and animals. While modest by some standards, volunteers on the project point out that donations of supplies, cash and labor kept the project cost at less than $60,000 in public money -- a significant improvement for a park maintained on a $450,000 annual budget.

Ed Dodrill, one of the volunteers on the trailside rest, said the project was a morale booster for all involved. Volunteers remained dedicated through a lonely and difficult start with few hands, fewer resources and insufficient trade skills.

"All of a sudden, people started showing up with expertise, people who knew how to do these things. The volunteer effort -- it always boggles my mind," Dodrill said.

M.D. Barns offered a price break on materials. Federal Electric Co. supplied technical assistance. Members of the Southern Nevada Regional Trails Coalition donated labor.

"You call, you call, you lean on friends, you show up, you show up with a shovel and you do things you've never done before. And when you're done, you feel greater than you've ever felt, better than anything you can off watching television."

He motions to a distant corral to show off some of his handiwork. Like all of the project, the work looks professional.

"After I'm dead and gone, that (mounting block) will still be sitting there.

"You feel good," Dodrill said, "because you're doing something. You're helping."

Kicking off the new volunteer-based campaign, White started by passively recruiting park users. He built two large signs soliciting for volunteers and posted them along the road into the park.

"We haven't hit anyone up. We put up some signs and they've come to us," he said.

Offering little more than a place and a time to show up, the committee has already summoned area residents for two trash pickups.

"That was our first effort to show what effect volunteers can have on the park," White said. "If you want to get things done, if you want to see these buildings maintained, then all those people (living adjacent to the park) need to volunteer."

One nearby residents who answered the call, Hazel Tibbitts, brought along Cub Scout Pack 308. Tibbitts saw one of the signs while riding her bike through the park.

"This was a good service project for the kids. They get to see the effects of littering. It's a chance to make an impression on them," Tibbitts said.

Emboldened, committee members say their plans have grown larger. Most of the park's acreage is unimproved and unused -- and surrounded by land-seeking developers in a portion of the city where real estate prices have soared. They have begun actively recruiting more hands -- in particular people with skills such as carpentry and other construction-related crafts -- and more involvement by area residents to improve the park and retain its historic character.

The next event, scheduled for Saturday, focuses on repairing structures within the park, including painting and re-roofing old shelter houses.

Committee members eventually plan to convert one of the old houses into a visitor's center with interpretive displays inside and a garden around the exterior.

"We need to bring these buildings up to preservation quality," White said. "We want to show visitors what the divorce ranch looked like and create a self-guided walking tour."

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