Ancient petroglyphs translation: "May a malevolent Indian spirit wither the manhood of he who dares litter here."

If U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley has her way, the days of rednecks using Gold Butte for weekend, whiskey-fueled re-enactments of Extreme Sports Challenge could be nearing a close.

Sources tell CityBlog that today Berkley will introduce the Gold Butte Conservation Act, which seeks to protect the 350,000-acre natural gem south of Mesquite through a newly announced National Conservation Area designation, hopefully protecting its thousands of historical and cultural artifacts and the myriad of desert species that call it home.

One thing Berkley’s act will mean is that authorities can now treat Gold Butte like the cultural treasure trove it is. This assumes, of course, that there’s any federal money left over from the current Wall Street bailout for new local rangers to keep the roving, soused bands of four-wheeling C.H.U.D.s out of Gold Butte’s rocky mix of trails, caves, flowers, and sacred cliff art.

Still, the bill sets up a collaboration in which the Bureau of Land Management and local officials will decide how to best manage the new National Conservation Area, including the rights of those who use the area for recreation. With CityLife Managing Editor Andrew Kiraly’s recent reporting on the environmental devastation inflicted on the land by careless hikers, campers and off-roaders, there’s little doubt that those activities will be curtailed somewhat, say sources.

Of course, one way to cut down on the four-wheel pillaging out at Gold Butte would be to increase the size of the now one-deep ranger corps now responsible for patrolling all this the sandy vastness. (By comparison, the 197,000-acre Red Rock National Conservation Area has nine of its 12 staff positions currently filled).

Still, Berkley sounds sincere in her efforts. “We cannot afford to wait years before moving to preserve the Gold Butte area given the damage that is already being inflicted by vandals who have targeted rock art drawn over thousands of years that can never be replaced and which tells the story of our heritage as Nevadans,” she says.

Interestingly, congressional sources tell CityBlog that U.S. Rep. Jon Porter, whose District 3 includes Gold Butte, decided against sponsoring just such a bill. Other Nevada lawmakers awaited his action; when none was forthcoming, Berkley took matters into her own hands.

Again, the public record is no friend of Porter. His latest ecological inaction comes a full five and half years after he described his experience in nearby Sloan Canyon to a Review-Journal reporter in this way:  “As you walk the canyon you can sense and feel 800 years of heritage,” Porter said.

No word yet on whether Berkley’s legislation will pass so close to an expected adjournment, but sources say it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. See the Oct. 2 edition of CityLife for more on this story.