Our changing climate continues to present challenges that aren't always easy to predict. In the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, one of those challenges is a huge spike in illegal roads coinciding with the receding of the lake's water.
According to Unofficial Networks, park officials are now looking to address that issue with the help of $8.66 million in conservation funding.
Lake Mead is a manmade lake located in Nevada and Arizona that was created when the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s.
The nearly 250 square-mile reservoir is the largest in the country, and it provides fresh water to 25 million people. Prolonged droughts caused by the changing climate have been slowly drying the lake up since the early 2000s.
As the lake continues to dry up, the geography of the area around it is changing. Visitors to the recreation area are now carving out unauthorized paths along that newly dry land with various vehicles. As Unofficial Networks noted, previous monitoring found 824 of these illegal roads in the area. Current estimates say that number is well over twice as large today.
These illegal roads are clearly bad because, well, they're illegal, but there's a lot more to it than that. Carving out a path in protected land without considering the impact on the environment can be detrimental to the ecosystem. It can disturb wildlife, damage plant growth, cause erosion, and desecrate indigenous land.
In the case of Lake Mead's illegal roads — and many other similar instances — these destructive paths also damage something of cultural importance. The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is among the most visited National Park areas in the country, welcoming millions of guests every year. Destroying its beauty by carving out illegal roads is nothing short of a tragedy.
Fortunately, those who love the park are coming together to find solutions, and they've got help from the National Park Service. The Lake Mead National Recreation Area recently received $8.66 million in funding for a project aimed to solve the illegal road issue.
The five-year project will look to address the ecological problems caused by these illegal roads. It will also turn to the public to better understand how to prevent future issues.
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"This will be a heavily partnership- and community-oriented project," said park superintendent Mike Gauthier, per Unofficial Networks. "We look forward to working closely with the public, tribes, and conservation-focused partners to help protect cultural and natural resources in these key park locations."
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