Text: Andreea Lotak; Photos: Justin & Andreea Lotak · 8 min read

We met Jaina Moan, Executive Director of Friends of Gold Butte, at an event they were hosting for the community in Mesquite, NV. She gave us an introduction into the importance of this new national monument and into the struggles it faces. The following day we arrived in Gold Butte at sunset and it surpassed all of our expectations. For the next couple of days we felt like we were walking through an exquisite open-air art museum. In December 2016, the Gold Butte National Monument was designated through the Antiquities Act by President Obama. It was set in place to protect an almost pristine piece of the Mojave Desert in the southeastern corner of Nevada, where the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin regions also converge. This fulfilled 15 years of ongoing efforts of local groups to protect an area of great cultural and spiritual importance to the Southern Paiute.

The monument also connects major conservation lands, as Jaina observed:"It really encompasses the entire Grand Canyon ecosystem, which is a very unique one in the world. You have Grand Canyon National Park that’s protected, you have Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument, and now you have Gold Butte, which finally has the protection that it needs. Then it’s surrounded by the Lake Mead Recreation Area, which is a National Park Service property. What you find is this really great gift that we are giving to ourselves as a people and to our future generations — to say: 'this is important for not just you to go out and enjoy, but for the animals and the plants that live there, and for preserving the historic record of our humanity that is on this landscape."  Jaina further explained that the people concerned with preserving the place and seeking a protected designation had been noticing many acts of vandalism, looting of historic resources, chopping down of Joshua trees, use of petroglyphs as shooting targets, as well as irresponsible recreation. "People need to be aware when they go out there that they’re going into a rugged place and that they need to prepare; so, know where you’re going, bring extra water and food, be prepared for an emergency, know your options because there’s no service out there. It’s important to communicate these things and that’s what Friends of Gold Butte is trying to do: to promote responsible enjoyment of the monument. Part of that responsible enjoyment is consideration for the cultural resources in the area, but the other part of it is the consideration for yourself and for others that are to follow."

Gold Butte was listed as one of the four terrestrial national monuments whose boundaries would be altered and shrunk at the recommendation of the Secretary of Interior Zinke. Cattle grazing is permitted in the monument, and private property and existing rights are grandfathered in. The Bundy Ranch is located in the vicinity of the monument and is where their first armed stand-off with the federal government took place in 2014. Despite some opposition, many residents in the region and members of tribes spoke in favor of protecting Gold Butte for its importance. "Gold Butte is this really amazing piece of the Mojave Desert. It has a really wide elevational range, from the highest point going over 8,000 ft to the lowest at about 1,200 ft. Because it has such a wide elevational gradient within a short distance, it has incredible biological communities at different points along the monument. At the higher elevations you find some really unique Ice Age relict forests, with little pockets of Douglas and white fir. It’s the only place where you find Douglas fir in southern Nevada. Then you see some really spectacular Pinyon-juniper woodlands, you see a lot of classic Creosote-Bursage across the landscape, which is prime habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise, a species that is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It has a really wide range of biodiversity among its ecosystems and wildlife populations and plant communities that are endemic to this part of the world. So ecologically speaking it’s a fascinating place. Then geologically speaking it's a very special place - you’ll find Precambrian rocks that date some 1.7 billion years; you travel a couple of miles and you find more recent rocks that are 170 million years old. The range of geologic history is absolutely incredible. It’s really a paradise for scientific research and geology. And then it’s also very significant because it has had a continuous history of humans. Archaeologists looking at the human record in Gold Butte have concluded that humans have either lived or traveled through the area for the past 12,000 years, a phenomenal amount of time. Through their travels and habitation on this landscape they’ve left quite the record of… of our humanity. You know? You find spectacular examples of petroglyphs, of agave roasting pits, then you find post-colonial evidence of habitation and the way in which those people used the land, with ranches, mines and so on. It really represents something for everybody when they’re out in Gold Butte." 

“Gold Butte is this really amazing piece of the Mojave Desert. It has a really wide elevational range, from the highest point going over 8,000 ft to the lowest at about 1,200 ft. Because it has such a wide elevational gradient within a short distance, it has incredible biological communities at different points along the monument.”

“Through their travels and habitation on this landscape they’ve left quite the record of… of our humanity. You know? You find spectacular examples of petroglyphs, of agave roasting pits, then you find post-colonial evidence of habitation and the way in which those people used the land, with ranches, mines and so on. It really represents something for everybody…”