Bitter Ridge

These were taken standing at the top of Bitter Ridge looking down on mud wash, Gold Butte Wash and Lake Mead.

Black Butte and Bitter Ridge

These were taken in and around the Black Butte and Bitter Ridge area.

Luke Whitney Petroglyphs

Here are the last of my Luke Whitney pics from this trip

Colors at Luke Whitney

Everything from the skies, the rocks, the plants to the desert animals are painted  from the rich color pallet that is the desert.  Its hard to beat these Desert Colors.

Family Trip to Luke Whitney Petroglyphs

My kids would be the great, great, great niece and nephew to Luke Whitney

Allie wishing her purse was as colorful as these rocks

Luke Whitney Petroglyphs

Here are some shots of the Luke Whitney petroglyphs. It was such a beautiful day.

Cactus in the Spring

The family and i made a little trip out to the Luke Whitney Petroglyphs the other day. The Joshua Cactus were in full bloom. I love the desert in the spring. I will post some pictures of the petroglyphs soon here. If you want to see the write up I did about the Luke Whitney area check out my back country rambler blog or click the link above that will take you straight to the Luke Whitney post.

Save Gold Butte

My last few posts have become a bitter rant about the way things are shaping up on the future of Gold Butte. However besides the occasional rant on my blog I have not really taken an active role in the dialog concerning the future of Gold Butte. I guess that I had just hoped that someone else would take care of it. Maybe I thought that the whole thing would just blow over. However this is not the case.  


Too many things have changed in the interests of Gold Butte and the future management of its public lands. Too many interest groups with extreme objectives, political backing and money have gotten involved. There are a lot of good people involved in the talks about the future of Gold Butte. There is a lot of good being done behind the scenes or that is less known. However I personally have not been involved in something that I feel passionately about and I would guess that there are many more like me.

We need people who have common sense, a love for the Gold Butte country and who want to see a positive change, to get involved in creating a responsible management plan for Gold Butte. It is easy to sit back in the chair of complacency and hope that someone else will get the job done. However it is not going to happen.

As I have thought about how I can become involved and be a positive influence in the talks and development process for change in Gold Butte I started looking for a place where I could go to get information about what is currently happening. I found that there was not a place for those of us who were in the middle. A place for people who want both conservation and multiple use in the Gold Butte region. For these reasons I created www.savegoldbutte.com

I am going to try to build the www.savegoldbutte.com  site into a place where I can explain the issues, post current events, and get people involved who want to see both conservation of our public lands but also multiple use. I just started this last Friday so it is still pretty basic. I don’t have much content posted or many people involved yet however it is a start. I have enlisted Stan Hardy and Jack Nelson to help get the ball rolling.  These are two guys who both know the country, the politics and want to see a positive change for Gold Butte. It also helps that they are my father and father-in-law. So if you are interested in the issues surrounding Gold Butte and its future please start checking the site for the current events and ways to get involved to save Gold Butte.

BLM Mission Statement

The following is the Mission Statement of the BLM

The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for stewardship of our public lands. The
BLM is committed to manage, protect and improve these lands in a manner to serve the
needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and
sustained yield of our nation's resources within a framework of environmental responsibility
and scientific technology. These resources include recreation, rangelands, timber, minerals,
watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness, air and scenic quality, as well as scientific and
cultural values.

Is closure to existing roads and hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands multiple use? I understand that with the increase of population in the west and especially Las Vegas along with the increase of ownership of ATV's that there has been an impact on the Gold Butte country. I know that not everyone who goes out is a responsible steward of our land, the public lands, like they should be. I know that there are important cultural artifacts and sites that have been damaged and vandalized and cannot be replaced. However is this really a legitimate excuse to close it off for everyone? There are a lot of people who love to get out and enjoy gods great desert. Why, because of a few bad eggs, are we all getting shut out? Is there not a middle ground that we can all come to so we can all protect, respect and enjoy our desert.


I am not an anti-environmentalist. Quite the contrary really, in the true meaning of the word. I love the land with all my heart. I was taught from a young age to respect and protect what is all of ours. Both of my parents came from homes that made their living from the land, both farming, ranching, mining and various other ways.  However the word environmentalist has taken on a whole other meaning. It has become political. The issues have become heated debates. The stakes have risen and the two extremes have taken over the whole arena and have forced us in the middle to take sides. I hate to see the damage and degradation to some of my favorite spots as much as any shorty shorts and REI hiking boots wearing Siera Clubber. However I do not believe that this should result in the complete and utter closure to everything. I honestly think that if it wasnt due to a greater conspiracy that a consensus really could be found. I belive that the environmental movement has become more about money, power and politics (politics being the most despicable of all) and less about public lands management and responsible stewardship.



......I will finish this after I calm down

Virgin Range - Black Butte - Billy Goat Peak

This panorama was taken from the top of Bitter Ridge. In the photo you can see Black Butte, which by the way from this angle is not black, and then the Virgin Mountain Range in the very back. The Luke Whitney Petroglyphs sit right on the other side of Black Butte. The 21 Sheep Panel sits just south of Black Butte in the Red and White sandstone. If you click the picture so it is bigger you can see the road from Whitney Pockets to the Nay Ranch.On the far right hand side is Billy Goat Peak.












Gold Butte is beautiful and great country, however it is under atack. Almost all of the country that you see in this photo are up for wilderness designation. The Bitter Ridge, the Virgin Range, Billy Goat Peak and many other places contained within the Gold Butte area, are all slated to become wilderness areas.

I also learned something new today, and for anyone who gets out in the back country much, needs to take into account. It use to be that roads that were marked closed were closed, otherwise they were open. However, now this is not the case. Roads that are marked open are open otherwise they are closed. This is straight from the mouth of the BLM, The Bureau of Land Mismanagement. The title of this agency states management.

Is closure of hundreds of thousands of acres management? That is your plan for the PUBLIC lands, to close it to the public?

Meadow Vally Bridge

I have many fond memories of, around, and on the Meadow Vally Bridge. I also know that many of you who check out this blog from time to time do also. It has changed a lot since the flood but it still brings back many good memories of times past. I took my kids there and its a totally different experience. I was nervous until I thought about them when they were older and possibly doing some of the same things that i use to do and then we abruptly left. 

Mud Hills

I know i start all my posts about the Gold Butte Country this way but, this is great  GREAT country.

On the far left of this picture the blue mountains are the tail end of Whitney Ridge. The red hills just under that are the Mud Hills and the cliffs in the back on the right are the Grand Wash Cliffs. What great country.

More of the Grand Wash Cliffs

Things are starting to green up out there
no pun intended
 

as a side note: By definition, puns must be deliberate; an involuntary substitution of similar words is called a malapropism.

Classify These as Good Times

Like Willie says Good Times......

Gold Butte Blue Skies

Yucca

Joshua