Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A clear hierarchy of trails was established to reduce the impacts of numerous
pedestrians and eliminate vehicular trails that had once crisscrossed the site (France
2011). Trail notes inform visitors about rest stops, interpretive education facilities, and
scenic windows or vistas into and out of the Park. Existing trails are being improved
and new trails constructed to lead visitors to specific areas, link to other recreational
opportunities on adjacent federal lands, and provide an educational storyline about
the various habitats throughout the Wash. A system of interpretive pavilions and
graphic signage helps give visitors a better sense of the history and human impacts
on this environment. By offering educational opportunities throughout the Park, the
Las Vegas Wash has become the region's largest classroom (Zimmerman 2004).
Although residents of the Las Vegas Valley are always searching for active recre-
ation (there seem to never be enough ball fields and such), the emphasis in the Clark
County Wetlands Park was on creating passive recreation opportunities such as bird
watching, picnicking, horseback riding, photography, mountain biking, and so on
for all ages and abilities, always keeping in mind the need to be compatible with the
overriding conservation and restoration goals. Because most of the water in the Wash
is treated effluent (France 1999, 2011; chapter 8), trails were actually sited to discour-
age interaction with the water, except for research purposes.
IMPLEMENTATION
So how are all these great ideas and good intentions actually used get something
built? In order to protect nature surrounded by urbanization, management was
directed to the following actions (Zimmerman 2004):
Control of the perimeter of the Park
Strong advocacy for the designed trail system
Elimination of off-road vehicle use
Reintroduction of native plant species
Use of real data to inform design, construction, and management
Concentration of visitor and interpretive areas within the park
Portions of the Park left undeveloped
The first major implementation in the Master Plan was the creation of a 120-
acre, $4.3 million nature preserve. And the challenge became how to design features
in such a dynamic environment—one in which, for example, three 100-year flood
events occurred within two years. Because the entire site can be inundated, careful
attention to landscape grading became essential for building new structures outside
of the pathways of water. And the sense of place was created through visual orienta-
tion and a connectedness to adjacent habitat in distant mountains. And because this
site was designed to be a place for people within nature, a circular trail system was
constructed based on differing travel times to allow walkers to interact with as much
wildlife and plants as they desire.
In conclusion, there were several prominent keys to the success of the Clark
County Wetlands Park (Zimmerman 2004). One was the ability to create and sustain
momentum within the community. Another was the ability to leverage finances and
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