Lovell Canyon, NV: From Conquest to Conservation

Lovell Canyon, NV flows to the south from the top of Mt. Charleston, which reaches into the skies almost 12,000 feet to gather the rain and snow that feeds and fosters the communities of life that surround it. Beyond the slopes of Mt. Charleston are Las Vegas and the almost sterile deserts of Death Valley and the Mohave Desert. Thus the history and fate of Lovell Canyon is examined from the standpoint of the uses of its natural resources, and from its historic uses in opposition to its current uses. Here we see that the Piute Indians lived in harmony with their Mt. Charleston environments as the people at the Roberts homesteaded ranch did in Lovell Canyon during the 1930’s and 40’s. Thus the Roberts Ranch is used to illustrate a time of flux from the needs to conquer to conservation. Then, in a broader way, Lovell Canyon is used to point to our many national needs for conservation – especially with respect for our diminishing inventories of natural resources. By promoting conservation, we subscribe to the utilitarian notion promoted by Gifford Pinchot, father of our U.S. Forest Service, to provide the greatest good for the greatest number, for the longest period of time possible. Then may we live in harmony with our environment as the Piute Indians did for some 800 years and the people of the Roberts ranch did for 14 years. This can be done. By George