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(44) Strategic Planning Volunteers get Results
Alice M. Crites, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, Logandale, NV, and Buddy Borden, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, Las Vegas, NV
Session: Poster
Urban sprawl has forced concerned volunteers to take action. Moapa Valley, home of the communities of Logandale and Overton, is located approximately 60 miles north of the fastest growing city in the United States, Las Vegas, Nevada. Also located 35 miles north of Moapa Valley is the community of Mesquite, which is the fastest growing rural community in Nevada. Beginning to feel the economic and environmental effects from neighboring growth, a group of citizens organized a community strategic planning committee with the primary objective of involving the community in researching, developing and supporting implementation of plans that reflect the communities’ rural lifestyles, unique identities, diverse needs, and historic heritage while improving the quality of life the communities now enjoys.
Cooperative Extension helped the committee implement a strategic planning process to help residents relate to and manage changes occurring in the community. Providing educational support helps people improve or develop leadership and project management skills to increase chances of achieving goals. Planning for growth and the future sale of 10,000 acres designated for sale by BLM were top priority issues.
Natural-resource-related successes the Moapa Valley Strategic Planning Committee was instrumental in over the last five years include: conducting and publishing an issue identification survey; obtaining funds for Community Emergency Response Training; obtaining county funding for a visioning process; completing a community trails plan; writing a 49-page trails standards plan; receiving a $200,000 grant to finalize engineering aspects of the trails plan; receiving $3.2 million for a multipurpose trail; receiving a $200,000 grant to complete an open space plan for the BLM Disposal Area; taking aerial photos and mapping a second access to Interstate 15; and developing the Moapa Valley Design Standards for an overlay district.
Alice Crites
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension
P. O. Box 126
Logandale, NV, 89021, USA
Phone: 702-397-2604
Fax: 702-397-8301
E-mail: critesa@unce.unr.edu
Buddy Borden
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension
8050 S. Maryland Pkwy #100
Las Vegas, NV, 89123-0855, USA
Phone: 702-222-3130
Fax: 702-222-3101
E-mail: bordenb@unce.unr.edu