Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Clark County backs Spirit Mountain national monument proposal

Avi Kwa Ame a.k.a. Spirit Mountain

Jessica Hill

A rock formation is seen Nov. 12, 2021, in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness area in Clark County, where Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, is located. Avi Kwa Ame is a mountain and region that Native American tribes and conservation leaders are trying to protect and turn into a national monument.

Avi Kwa Ame a.k.a. Spirit Mountain

Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain located in Spirit Mountain Wilderness area in Clark County, is seen, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2021. Avi Kwa Ame is a mountain and region that Native American tribes and conservation leaders are trying to protect and turn into a national monument.  JESSICA HILL Launch slideshow »
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The Clark County Commission voted today to send President Joe Biden and Congress a resolution urging them to designate 450,000 acres of land around Searchlight as a national monument.

The area, known as Avi Kwa Ame, which means Spirit Mountain in Mojave, is the basis of several Native American tribes’ creation stories and is a popular outdoor recreation spot.

Tribes, off-roading recreation groups and conservationists have been working for years to have the land designated as a national monument to protect it from development.

Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, a national monument is a designation for public lands established either by Congress or through a presidential executive order.

Spirit Mountain is considered sacred by 10 Yuman-speaking tribes, as well as the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute.

The public lands are also home to Joshua trees, petroglyphs and threatened wildlife like the Mojave Desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep.

At today’s meeting, several residents of nearby Cal-Nev-Ari spoke against the proposed monument, saying they were worried it could hinder expansion of their community.

The proposed monument would surround the community, which covers about 2.3 square miles and has 144 residents. To get to Spirit Mountain, people headed south on U.S. 95 from Las Vegas would pass through Cal-Nev-Ari and then turn east onto Christmas Tree Pass Road.

“We’d like to grow but if this monument takes place, all of that will shut down,” Cal-Nev-Ari resident Ronald Beavers said.

Commissioner Michael Naft, a supporter of the proposal, said private property would not be impacted by the monument status.

With the designation, activities that would adversely impact the natural and cultural properties of the land would be prohibited, such as new mining claims, energy development, utility lines and road construction, according to the Honor Avi Kwa Ame website.

The Boulder City Council and the Searchlight and Laughlin town advisory boards have also voted to support the monument.