Nevada

Nevada’s newest state park celebrates grand opening after years of delay

Published

2 years ago

January 16, 2024

Nevada’s newest state park celebrates grand opening after years of delay

After seven years, three governors and much anticipation from community members and paleontology lovers, Ice Age Fossils State Park is finally opening to the public.

The park celebrated its long-awaited opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, though the park won’t officially open to the public until Saturday.

With 3 miles of trails and an interactive visitors center for kids of all ages, the 315-acre park tells the story of Las Vegas 25,000 years ago, when dire wolves and prehistoric camels roamed the valley’s lush marshlands that have since dried up.

Originally announced under Gov. Brian Sandoval’s “Explore Your Nevada Initiative” in 2017, the park was set to open in mid-2018. But, supply chain issues and a global pandemic threw a wrench in the park’s plans, Park Supervisor Garrett Fehner said.

“We were really optimistic about our timeline starting out, and then, of course, COVID happened,” Fehner said. “That was a challenging time to be a state employee because the state didn’t have money all of a sudden — we had money that had been allotted to this project that got taken back by the state.”

Support from local nonprofits Protectors of Tule Springs and the Ice Age Park Foundation, along with the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which gave $3.5 million to the project, helped bring the park to fruition, Fehner said.

“That was a challenging time, but we worked through it and it makes it even more meaningful on a day like today when you can see the end result of that work,” he said.

‘We have got to save this’

Ice Age Park Foundation President Helen Mortenson was lauded during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for being instrumental in getting land protected as a state park.

Mortenson said that when she first moved to Las Vegas in 1962, she quickly became enamored with the “Big Dig” project at Tule Springs — a massive archeological excavation that began that year where scientists moved more than 200,000 tons of dirt to uncover fossils thousands of years old.

The project’s remnants are protected by the state park today.

“It opened a whole new world for me, and I said, ‘We have got to save this,” Mortenson said.

Soon, scientists, the Nevada State Museum and politicians, including Mortenson’s husband, Harry Mortenson, who served as a state legislator, were working together to tell people about the area and find a way to protect the ice age fossils, she said.

“(Sen.) Harry Reid said ‘I had no idea that was out there,’” she recalled. “We just kept growing and growing — and look at what we’ve accomplished today.”

Sandy Croteau, vice president of Protectors of Tule Springs, said that when she learned in 2006 that the area was going to be sold off by the Bureau of Land Management for development, she worked with other members of her community to form a coalition to protect the area.

“We contacted our senators, congressmen — anybody that would listen to us about how this land needs to be saved.” Croteau said. “With all the fossils out here, they were going to build houses, but this land needed to be saved for future generations.”

Croteau said people in Las Vegas who have supported the area’s protection for years are waiting eagerly for the park to finally open.

“They are so excited. … This has been high up on people’s list of things to do,” she said.

Future plans

Though the park hasn’t even opened to the public yet, Jonathan Brunjes, deputy administrator for Nevada State Parks, said the park hopes to one day facilitate research opportunities for UNLV students at the park’s archaeological sites.

“We’d love to have a repository here where people can come and actually see them working on the fossils in real time,” Brunjes said. “Hopefully, we find more out here. That’s a neat thing about a state park is there’s always something new to discover.”

The park also plans to host guided hikes to show people where fossils are located along the trails, and field trips for students to learn more about Las Vegas’ history, Brunjes said.

Fehner said the park will start out being open only on Saturdays and Sundays, with hopes of expanding to more days of the week in the future.

“This park is just gonna get better and better.”

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com

Source link

Nevada

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

Published

5 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — We’ll start the week with a heightened fire danger with dangerous heat later this week.

TODAY

Expect mostly sunny skies with winds picking up again on Monday. High temperatures will reach 98 degrees in Las Vegas with south winds 10-20 mph and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

A RED FLAG WARNING is in place from 10am to 9pm Monday for gusty winds and dry weather, so if a fire started, it would spread quickly.

Winds are estimated to be 20-25 mph with gusts around 40 mph at times with relative humidity of 5%-15%.

Air quality is ranked ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ for dust and tree pollen. The most common pollens are juniper, cedar, willow, sycamore and palm.

TONIGHT

We’ll see variable clouds this evening with skies going from mostly cloudy to mostly clear overnight.

Wind gusts will pick up again before midnight with gusts 30-40 mph possible downslope of the Spring Mountains in the west valley.

Elsewhere, gusts will be 20-30 mph. Breezes will eventually back down to 5-15 mph overnight. Valley lows will drop to around 74 degrees.

WHAT’S NEXT

We have reached 109 consecutive days without measurable rain in Las Vegas.

No rain is in sight, but for perspective, June is the driest month of the year in Las Vegas. Fingers crossed on a hopefully more active monsoon season!

High pressure builds next with highs 5-10 degrees above normal. Temperatures will reach around 108 degrees in Las Vegas by Friday. The last time we hit a high temperature of 108 degrees was back on August 20th of last year.

Not much relief is in sight by the weekend with highs around 107 degrees and temps at or above 105-106 degrees NEXT Monday through Wednesday.

Source link

Nevada

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Published

15 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Growing DNA databases continue to unlock decades-old cold cases. How the DNA Doe Project helped to identify remains 37 years later.

Posted
6/8/2026, 2:51:05 AM

Source link

Nevada

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

Published

1 day ago

June 7, 2026

Press Room

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

First team

Ty Ahlstrom, Centennial – The junior had 373 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state libero for the 5A state runner-up.

Evan Ditmar, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state outside hitter had 187 kills with a .328 hitting percentage.

Luke Hashimoto, Arbor View – The senior had 302 digs and 37 aces for the 5A state champion.

Porter Hughes, Basic – The senior had 373 kills with 218 digs and 38 aces for the 5A state semifinalist.

Lincoln Larson, Centennial – The senior was the 5A state player of the year and was second in the state with 460 kills, on a .371 hitting percentage, and added 283 digs and 72 aces for the 5A state runner-up.

Jagger Mendenhall, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state setter had 414 assists.

Risden Miller, Arbor View – The junior led the 5A state champion with 279 kills and added 173 digs.

RJ Regalado, Centennial – The senior had 723 assists and was a first-team 5A all-state.

Max Romzek, Shadow Ridge – The junior had 152 kills on a .437 hitting percentage with 66 blocks for the 5A state semifinalist.

Mateo Salomon, Shadow Ridge – The sophomore had 169 kills with a .374 hitting percentage for the 5A state semifinalist.

Keagan Sugden, Arbor View – The junior setter led the state with 1,129 assists for the 5A state champion.

Mau Tuiaana, Centennial – The senior had 162 kills on a .397 hitting percentage, 92 blocks and 147 digs for the 5A state runner-up.

Kenyon Wickliffe, Arbor View – The senior had a .477 hitting percentage with 176 kills and 46 blocks for the 5A state champion. He is committed to Cal State Northridge.

Jacob Wienke, Desert Oasis – The senior was the 4A Mountain League player of the year led the Diamondbacks with 290 kills and 154 digs on their way to the 4A state title.

Coach of the year

Nicole Adarme, Arbor View – Guided the Aggies to the Class 5A state title, the program’s first boys volleyball title.

Second team

Graham Blanchard, Arbor View – The senior had 179 kills, 32 aces and 136 digs for the 5A state champion.

Zelworth Chavis, Liberty – The 4A Lake League player of the year had 731 assists and 64 aces for the 4A state semifinalist.

Zavier Coleman, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 139 kills and 136 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Andrew Gutierrez, Palo Verde – The junior had 153 kills 35 aces and was a first-team 5A all-state outside hitter.

Ty Hardy, Basic – The senior had 274 kills and 257 digs for the 5A state semifinalist.

Ty Harper, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 211 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection for the 5A state semifinalist.

Kaleb Law, Mojave – The senior was the 4A Sky League player of the year and was second in the state with 436 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 69 blocks, 55 aces and 249 digs to help the Rattlers reach the 4A state semifinals.

Oakland Liugalua, Cadence — The freshman had 406 kills on a .396 hitting percentage with 154 digs and 57 aces.

Gavin McColl, Centennial – The senior had 154 kills on a .333 hitting percentage with 94 blocks for the 5A state runner-up.

Brad Rappleye, Sky Pointe – The junior was the 4A Desert League player of the year and had 187 kills and 78 blocks to help the Eagles reach the 4A state title game.

Levi Randall, Boulder City – The junior had 149 kills with a .477 hitting percentage and 92 blocks for the 3A state champion.

Yeheshua Ruiz, Foothill – The senior had 157 kills with a .426 hitting percentage with 70 blocks and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Preston Van Beveren, Boulder City – The senior had 137 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 99 blocks, 27 aces and 141 digs for the 3A state champion.

David Zwahlen, Boulder City – The 3A state player of the year had 232 kills with a .364 hitting percentage, with 337 digs and 70 aces.