Las Vegas — Federal authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding two men seen damaging rock formations at a Nevada national recreation area.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area officials said on social media that the damage occurred over a recent weekend near the Redstone Dune Trail on the lake’s north shore. The petrified red dunes there make it one of the most popular hiking spots in the park.
A video that CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV said went viral and that Lake Mead said was recorded on the evening of April 7 shows two men pushing pieces of sandstone to the edge of an outcropping for a girl screams. Park officials called the behavior appalling, saying the damage could not be repaired.
National Park Service / Facebook
“It’s one of my favorite places in the park and they’re destroying it. I don’t understand that,” said John Haynes, public information officer at Lake Mead National Recreation Area , on television station KVVU.
Such destruction on federally protected sites can result in criminal charges with potential fines and prison time, Haynes said.
Spanning 2,344 square miles of desert mountains and canyons, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, just outside Las Vegas, attracts about 6 million visitors each year. Officials said staffing levels mean park officials often rely on the public to also monitor resources within park boundaries.
Authorities said visitors can use their cell phones to capture any video or photos of suspicious activity if it is safe to do so and to collect any information, such as a license plate, that could help identify violators. The National Park Service operates a tip line that receives thousands of submissions each year. That number is 888-653-0009 and there is an online version.
“It’s really important to let us know,” Haynes said.
There have also been other cases of vandalism on federal lands across the West over the past decade, with visitors defacing petroglyphs, toppling rock features and driving climbing bolts into works of art. centuries-old rock art.
Grub5
