LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A fire burned 34 acres of Clark County Wetlands Park Monday morning.
Online commenters and neighbors who live near the park expressed concerns about the potential impact on animal habitats within the park.
Red Rock Audubon Society’s Education and Outreach Director, Alex Harper, spoke with FOX5 about the potential impact the fire could have. The organization’s mission is to protect and restore habitats for birds and other animals throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
Harper says he’s been photographing wildlife within the Wetlands Park for years. He says he saw video of what looked like mesquites, willows and cottonwoods burning in the park Monday morning.
These types of trees are particularly valuable to the birds and animals that call the park home, Harper says. It’s also bird breeding season, which adds another layer of complication.
“It’s the breeding season for a lot of birds, and a lot of them will be coming back from Central America and Mexico for the next few months to breed, and if they get to patches where it’s been burned, it doesn’t provide the same habitat for nesting,” Harper says.
A Clark County spokesperson says, after fires like this one, vegetation is replanted to recreate any habitat lost.
They also try to prevent habitat loss from fires by creating “fire breaks” near sensitive habitats, which are essentially buffers of open space to prevent a fire from spreading.
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