On October 30, 2021, Shine City Project partnered up with Get Outdoors Nevada for a service project at Tule Springs National Monument! Though the Las Vegas that we now know is hot and dry, for millennia, the same area was once a vast spring ecosystem where water was in abundance and wetlands dominated the valley floor. Las Vegas was once a place filled with marshes and wet meadows, spring pools and ponds, and spring-fed streams. Not only that, animals that were both abundant and diverse, large and small, once occupied this land. These animals include mammoths, camels, bison, ground sloths, lions, wolves, saber-toothed cats, and many more! For over a century, tens of thousands of fossils have been collected from Tule Springs National Monument.
On this Saturday morning, Shine City Project arrived at Tule Springs National Monument for a cleanup with Get Outdoors Nevada! Our group of six volunteers met with other groups, families, and individuals to help pick up trash in the area. With everyone's help, more than 400 pounds of litter was collected! Though several of our volunteers weren't able to find so much trash, we were overall happy to explore the area and be surrounded by the area's natural beauty! After the service project, we had a picnic lunch nearby at Floyd Lamb Park and an opportunity to walk around Gilcrease Orchard!