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In Southern Nevada, fewer boat ramps on Lake Mead mean longer wait times to launch. Drought also alters wildlife populations and behavior, which can curtail hunting, fishing, and photography opportunities. Increased wildfire risk during drought can limit access, and public perceptions about the associated dangers of fire and smoke can lead to fewer visitors and lost revenue from tourism. In addition, low stream flow and reduced snowpack degrade water quality, which limits activities, increases the risk for contracting waterborne disease, and shortens the season for outdoor recreation and tourism, NIDIS says. Las Vegas offers enough indoor activities to make a visitor’s trip worthwhile without ever stepping foot outside.īut those who do can’t help but notice the drought’s many consequences - including diminished or changed outdoor recreation opportunities.Īccording to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), a multi-agency partnership, drought affects the tourism and recreation sectors directly and indirectly.ĭrought obviously impedes activities that are dependent on water or snow, such as boating and skiing. Lake Mead’s bathtub ring, the starkest symbol of drought conditions that residents face, has increasingly drawn national attention, but visitation numbers continue to rise, suggesting the West’s water plight isn’t having a major effect on Nevada’s tourism. “There’s a profound implication for Lake Mead with regard to climate change broadly, and that has implications for the outdoor recreation economy of Southern Nevada,” he says. “Now we have ‘smoke days’ as a result of fire … and that has pretty serious implications for some of Nevada’s rural communities, in particular, that are oftentimes gateways to places that people want to recreate in Nevada,” Robertson says.Īmid the West’s two searing decades of “dry days,” what is now called a megadrought, Robertson is well aware of its effects on Nevada’s many outdoor activities - and potentially, tourism. Robertson, a Reno resident who works in Carson City, compared the smoky, choke-inducing span to “snow days,” when cold, heavy precipitation accumulates on roads and closes schools. (Similar conditions were developing as this issue went to press.)
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Appointed the first administrator of the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation in January 2020, Robertson says hazardous air quality from California’s wildfires forced him and thousands of other outdoor aficionados indoors most of August and the first part of September 2021. HIS JOB frequently requires him to be indoors to talk about the outdoors, but Colin Robertson is an avid walker, hiker, mountain biker, and downhill skier who loves to take his kids camping. But the outdoor recreation sector may not be so lucky Lake Mead’s receding water levels haven’t reduced Las Vegas visitation overall.