Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2007) |
The Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge (MVNWR) is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located 60 miles (97 km) north of Las Vegas, Nevada. The 106-acre (0.43 km²) refuge was created on September 10, 1979 and is part of the larger Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which also includes the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, and the Amargosa Pupfish Station.
The refuge was established to provide habitat for the endangered Moapa dace of which about 1,900 exist in the Muddy River area. The habitat on the refuge consists of stream channels feeding the Muddy River including six hot springs emerging near the center of the refuge.
[edit] History
One of the areas of the MVNWR now called the “Plummer Unit” was a public, family-owned recreational park. To summarize, a former general manager of the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Bob Plummer, purchased a 100-acre (0.40 km²) parcel of land that is best described as an oasis (hundreds of palm trees and hot natural springs) that became known as "Desert Oasis Warm Springs" Resort. During the 1970s and 80's his efforts converted the property into a spa, resort and retreat that was very successful and enjoyed for over 20 years by many Las Vegas families who to this day hold very fond memories of their time in this "Jewel in the Desert". By the 1990s, this resort had changed from open-to-the-public into a private time-share/spa.[citation needed]
When the Warm Springs Desert Oasis resort was a public resort, it thrived as a family picnic, simplified-water park environment surrounded by warm water streams. It was enjoyed by hundreds of people - especially on weekends, without any commercial advertising or signs anywhere - simply by word of mouth between Las Vegas locals (actually 60 miles (97 km) away) who loved the simple family environment and the warm streams running through picnic areas - they bathed in the warm, but palm-shaded streams during the summertime.[citation needed]
If it were not for this oasis and the other oasis units of the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge, then much of the area known as Moapa Valley would presumably be a desert environment similar to its surrounding desert climate because most of the farming irrigation and drinking water for this local valley area comes from these water sources.[citation needed]
The Desert Oasis Warm Springs Resort continued to operate until a wildfire swept through the area in 1994. After the fire, the resort essentially remained unused until 1997 when the property was purchased by Del Webb and turned over to the FWS to be incorporated as part of the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge (Amy Sprunger-Allworth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, oral commun., 2004).[citation needed]
Since the 1990s the dace have been in decline mainly due to habitat destruction and modification. Nearby groundwater pumping has decreased stream discharge and streamflows and decreased dace habitat. Competition with introduced species such as the mosquitofish and shortfin molly have also added to the dace's decline.
In August, 2005 the National Wildlife Refuge Association and again in September, 2005 the Defenders of Wildlife listed the Refuge as one of the 10 most endangered refuges in the United States.
[edit] References
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Las Vegas Sun
- Muddy River
- Moapa Valley
- Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Bob Plummer
[edit] External links
- Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
- History of Water-Resources Development within the Warm Springs Area Near Moapa, Nevada
