Current:Home > reviewsVisitors are seen on camera damaging rock formations at a Nevada recreation site -Excel Money Vision
Visitors are seen on camera damaging rock formations at a Nevada recreation site
View
Date:2025-04-13 17:29:46
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! (9284)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- At Cairo summit, even Arab leaders at peace with Israel expressed growing anger over the Gaza war
- 6 dead in Russian rocket strike as Ukraine reports record bomb attack numbers
- Judge fines Trump $5,000 after threatening prison for gag order violation
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- 'Wait Wait' for October 21, 2023: Live from Connecticut with James Patterson!
- South Korea, US and Japan hold first-ever trilateral aerial exercise in face of North Korean threats
- Jose Altuve’s home run gives Astros wild win as benches clear in ALCS Game 5 vs. Rangers
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- European rallies urge end to antisemitism as pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue worldwide
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- People are asking to be doxxed online – and the videos are going viral.
- Another promising young college student has died. The truth about fentanyl.
- Restricted rights put Afghan women and girls in a ‘deadly situation’ during quakes, UN official says
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Bay Area rap icon E-40 films music video at San Joaquin Valley vineyard
- A car bombing at a Somali military facility kills 6 people, including 4 soldiers, police say
- Manhunt launched for Nashville police chief’s son suspected in shooting of 2 Tennessee officers
Recommendation
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Tanker truck carrying jet fuel strikes 2 cars on Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing 2, injuring 1
Hezbollah official says his group already ‘is in the heart’ of Israel-Hamas war
Wrongful death lawsuit filed against former Alabama players Brandon Miller, Darius Miles
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Why children of married parents do better, but America is moving the other way
Hunter Biden special counsel David Weiss to speak with congressional investigators
Iowa woman who made fake cancer claims on social media must pay restitution but stays out of prison