Boy Scouts team up with developers

Youths take part in Mountain's Edge growth

Explorers from the Boy Scouts of America are teaming up with developers of Mountain's Edge to learn the trades it takes to construct a new Las Vegas neighborhood.

Mountain's Edge, located near Buffalo Drive and Blue Diamond Road, broke ground Feb. 16, but the Mountain's Edge Explorer Post No. 26 formed two weeks prior. The group of high schoolers helped replant Yucca and Creosote bushes as part of the groundbreaking ceremony.

Many students won't be digging holes for plants for long.

"It's anything you can think of in a residential community development," said Joanne Stuflick, senior Explorer executive with Boys Scouts of America, Boulder Dam Council. "We're finding out what these 30 kids' specific interests are."

Students, boys and girls, can enter the program to explore careers. Currently, there are fire and police programs, along with other entities, but Mountain's Edge is the first master-planned community to offer a program.

Everything from engineering and carpentry to interior design and landscaping are jobs available to students ages 14 to 20.

"They can be in it a couple months and decide they don't want to do engineering anymore, and that's OK," Stuflick said. "The program (will) become the youth's programs. It's something that develops as it grows.

"Through this program, they can try on a bunch of career fields. That's what makes this program a little different. With a fire program, that's it. It's just fire."

As students, dignitaries and developers gathered, employees of Natural Resources Nevada harvested the hill that will become the entrance point to the development and named it Explorer Peak. The indigenous plants will be kept and replanted once the development reaches the landscaping phase.

The hill, scared by off-road vehicles and years of recreational use, was repaired for the development.

Explorer Peak will be equipped with a park, walking and equestrian trails, learning opportunities and 360-degree views of the Las Vegas Valley. Trails will hide representational artifacts and petroglyphs for children to find during hikes and walks. And they will be able to earn a junior explorer badge for their findings.

"Las Vegas has a rich history. It goes back to prehistoric times. We're going to be incorporating as much of that history as possible," said John Ritter, chief executive officer for Focus Property Group, the developer. "I think it's important for people to establish roots and be a part of something that extends past the casinos on the Strip."

Mountain's Edge is the fourth development for the Focus Property Group. The 3,000-acre parcel was purchased from the Bureau of Land Management. Construction is set to begin on the master-planned community in April.

The community, made up of about 20 home builders, will be connected by trails and have a Western theme including a cowboy-themed park, Ritter added.

Ritter lived in Phoenix before coming to Las Vegas. In the growing Arizona city, parks and hiking trails such as Squaw Peak, create natural parks in urban and suburban areas. He has wanted to bring the idea to the Las Vegas Valley since 1987, he said.

"We loved the idea so much it's taken on a life of it's own," Ritter said. "You'll be able to navigate through the entire community on foot or on bike."

The replanting of Nevada's native plants will work with the drought-tolerant landscaping planned for the community. The only grass will be in high-use areas such as ball fields and play areas.

"There are ways to do drought tolerant and have it still be attractive," Ritter said. "It'll be lush but still drought tolerant. I think there's a way to live in the desert that's aesthetically pleasing and not wasteful."


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