Current:Home > StocksVisitors are seen on camera damaging rock formations at a Nevada recreation site -Momentum Wealth Path
Visitors are seen on camera damaging rock formations at a Nevada recreation site
View
Date:2025-04-26 13:38:29
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal authorities are asking for the public’s help in tracking down two men seen damaging rock formations at a national recreation site in Nevada.
Officials at Lake Mead National Recreation Area said the damage happened during a recent weekend near the Redstone Dune Trail on the north side of the lake. The petrified red dunes found there make it one of the most popular hiking spots in the park.
A video shows two men shoving chunks of sandstone off the edge of an outcropping as a girl screams. Park officials called the behavior appalling, saying the damage can’t be fixed.
“It’s one of my favorite places in the park and they’re up there just destroying it. I don’t understand that,” John Haynes, public information officer at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, told television station KVVU.
Destruction like this at federally protected sites can result in felony charges that come along with potential fines and jail time, Haynes said.
Spanning 2,344 square miles (6,071 square kilometers) of mountains and desert canyons, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area just outside of Las Vegas draws around 6 million visitors every year. Officials said staffing levels mean park officials often rely on the public to also keep watch over resources within park boundaries.
Authorities said visitors can use their cellphones to capture any video or photos of suspicious activity if it’s safe to do so and to collect any information, such as a license plate, that might help to identify offenders. The National Park Service operates a tipline that receives thousands of submissions each year.
“It’s really important to let us know,” Haynes said.
There also have been others cases of vandalism on federal land across the West over the past decade, with visitors defacing petroglyphs, toppling rock features and pounding climbing bolts into centuries-old rock art.
veryGood! (8293)
Related
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- A kind word meant everything to Carolyn Hax as her mom battled ALS
- Annie Murphy Shares the Must-Haves She Can’t Live Without, Including an $8 Must-Have
- A $2.5 million prize gives this humanitarian group more power to halt human suffering
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- A doctor's Ebola memoir is all too timely with a new outbreak in Uganda
- You're 50, And Your Body Is Changing: Time For The Talk
- In California, Climate Change Is an ‘Immediate and Escalating’ Threat
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- Sum 41 Announces Band's Breakup After 27 Years Together
Ranking
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Today’s Climate: July 15, 2010
- Many Man-Made Earthquakes in Western Canada Can Now Be Linked to Fracking
- What we know about Ajike AJ Owens, the Florida mom fatally shot through a neighbor's door
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Abortion is on the ballot in Montana. Voters will decide fate of the 'Born Alive' law
- InsideClimate News Wins SPJ Award for ‘Choke Hold’ Infographics
- The 5-minute daily playtime ritual that can get your kids to listen better
Recommendation
Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
Breakthrough Solar Plant Stores Energy for Days
What Is Nitrous Oxide and Why Is It a Climate Threat?
Wildfire smoke-laden haze could hang around Northeast and beyond for days, experts warn
Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
WWE Wrestling Champ Sara Lee's Cause of Death Revealed
False information is everywhere. 'Pre-bunking' tries to head it off early
How Derek Jeter Went From Baseball's Most Famous Bachelor to Married Father of 4