Ducks Unlimited project offers a different view of Las Vegas

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Tucked just few miles away from the glitz and glamor of the Las Vegas Strip sits a little-known desert oasis providing valuable wetland habitat for waterfowl and other species that utilize this region of the Pacific Flyway. And Ducks Unlimited played a large part in its creation.

The Clark County Wetlands Park (CCWP) is the largest park in the county and runs near the natural beginning of the Las Vegas Wash, which flows under Lake Las Vegas and later into Lake Mead. The park provides residents spectacular 360 degree views of the city and accompanying mountain ranges, as well as needed habitat for wildlife in what would otherwise be the high desert.

Ducks Unlimited worked with Clark County to develop six seasonal ponds within the CCWP in the late 2000s, eventually creating 45 acres of open water for waterfowl. The addition of a mesquite tree community, located adjacent to the ponds, brought the total to 112 acres of habitat for local wildlife and migrating bird populations.

According to the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee, seven species of birds were almost immediately observed at the newly-created ponds that hadn’t been recorded in Southern Nevada since the 1970s

Today, the park has developed around Ducks Unlimited’s ponds and offers a respite for tourists and residents of Las Vegas looking to escape the bustle of the city. A nature center features displays of the parks plant and wildlife, which can also be observed via the park’s miles of walking trails.