Today on Outdoor Nevada, I visit the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, and here I meet up with Andrew from the Bureau of Land Management.

He gives me a tour and a lesson on this ancient land.

From there I head out to Goodsprings and meet up with a touring outdoor pizza company whose family history is in every bite of their delicious woodfired sourdough creations.

Then I meet up with Satara, a local outdoor enthusiast who loves to not only share her adventures, she'll invite you to join her.

And finally we meet Jason, one of Nevada's herpetologists.

We'll learn what herpetologist is and how you can volunteer to help the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

All this today on Outdoor Nevada.

♪♪♪ Nevada: It's an adventure waiting to happen.

Waiting for you.

What do you say, you ready?

Because I am.

♪♪♪ (John Burke) You know, one of my favorite things when I'm traveling around Nevada is when somebody stops me and says, I didn't know about this; I didn't know about that.

Well, I got another one for you: The Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area just outside of the city of Henderson; 48,000 acres of pristine beauty, hiking trails and Native American history.

Let's go talk to Andrew.

He looks after the place.

Andrew, tell me how you got into this line of work.

(Andrew Swan) Well, I think like a lot of park rangers, I grew up spending a lot of time in the outdoors with my family, and I really had a love for nature so I was looking for a job where I could be outdoors during the day and see beautiful places.

-How's it working out for you?

-Well, so far so good.

I've been doing this about 21 years.

-Tell me about this conservation area.

It's relatively new.

-Yes.

Sloan Canyon was created in 2002, and it's an area near Las Vegas and the city of Henderson that was set aside as a place to protect the cultural history.

We have a lot of Native American petroglyphs and rock art here, and it tells a story that goes back about 1,500 years, and then also as a part of the Mojave Desert that's a good example of what the Mojave looked like at one time.

So all of Las Vegas was like this once, and now we still have a place we can come and be reminded of what it was like.

-I notice a lot of volcanic rock.

Can you tell me about that?

-Yes.

You know, that's a unique thing to Sloan Canyon.

If you look around the desert, most deserts have a lot of sandstone everywhere you go, which is really just made out of sand and pressed into sandstone.

But Sloan Canyon is the one place where we had ancient volcanoes.

About 14 million years ago, there were many volcanoes that were erupting here, and they were creating lava domes and they were collapsing.

They were making a kind of rock that you can't find anywhere else in the Las Vegas Valley, and those rocks would be rocks like dacite, andesite and basalt.

So it's really a unique thing to come out here and go hiking among these rocks and have it look a little different than anywhere else you could go hiking here.

-That's exactly-- that's so well said.

And how many miles of trails do you have?

-We have a lot of trails.

They're kind of surrounding the conservation area.

The one that we're on today is probably one of the most popular ones, the Petroglyph Trail, but we have trails for all levels of difficulty from climbing Black Mountain, which is kind of a strenuous climb, to just taking a little leisurely stroll on what we call the 101 Trail down here.

-You mentioned petroglyphs.

Native American history is really prominent here.

-Yes.

Well, petroglyphs and other kinds of rock art are one of the best ways that we see evidence of the Native Americans that were living here about 1,000 years ago.

-So the actual art that you see is over 1,000 years old.

-Yes.

Petroglyphs are panels where the picture is chipped into the rock with another rock, and then we have pictographs, which are painted on the rock with some form of paint from back then.

We have over 1,500 images just in this canyon and 700 panels.

-Can you tell me about some of the designs that you see on the rocks?

-Yes.

So there are designs that you or I would recognize right away, it's obvious what they are like a bighorn sheep, and actually bighorn sheep still live in Sloan Canyon today.

But back then that was one of the most important animals the Native Americans hunted, so we see that a lot.

But there's a lot of other designs, I might even say the majority, that you and I wouldn't know what they are.

They're geometrical, they're spirals, they're grids, they're squares, and this is where you can kind of use your imagination and try to decide what they were trying to tell us from the past.

-How many people come here each year?

-The numbers are going up and up.

Sloan Canyon has only become more and more well known.

I would say maybe somewhere around 30- or 40,000, I'd say.

It's not as popular as some areas, but those numbers are increasing year to year.

-I kind of like the solitude, I'll be honest with you.

You come out here, and as we've talked about before, the city is so close.

If you're looking for an exhale, if you're looking for some solitude, it's right out the back door of Las Vegas.

-That's really it.

You know, Sloan Canyon was a secret that only the locals knew for years and years, but now the word is getting out and we're welcoming a lot more tourists from other places.

But you can still find a spot here where you won't see another person, where you won't hear anyone's voice, and where you can enjoy that peace and quiet.

-If you had to explain Sloan Canyon in one sentence, how would you do it?

-Well, the thing that comes to mind for me is ancient.

You know, when I come out here, I forget about modern technology, about the city that's just over that hill.

I come out and I could be at any time in the past.

The petroglyphs are thousands of years old, the landscape is millions of years old, so you can really lose yourself and just kind of get transported back to another time.

-You and I think exactly the same way.

That's exactly how I would describe it.

And I'm sure that when kids come out here, it's a special thing for them as well, right?

-Absolutely.

You know, the BLM has an agreement with a lot of the schools in the Henderson and Las Vegas area, and we have field trips that come out here.

We bring out school kids of ages kindergarten to grade five, and we have a different curriculum for each grade level, and it's really something special that they can come out and explore the area.

We also go into the classrooms and teach them about Sloan as well.

-I can't believe I didn't know about Sloan before this.

It's ancient but it's vibrant.

It's alive.

I really appreciate you taking the time to really show me around today.

I've enjoyed it.

-Well, it was great to meet you, and I'm glad you finally made it to Sloan Canyon.

-Well, I'll be back.

-Okay.

♪♪♪ Right now we're going to pay a visit to Yukon Pizza.

Now, basically they make great pizza outdoors, but they have learned that the wave of the future is connected to a key ingredient to their traditional past.

♪♪♪ Alex and his team make pizza.

Now, making pizza is one thing, making sourdough pizza in an imported Italian oven at 900 degrees is another.

But the story of the starter for the sourdough is a whole other thing.

The family lore is this: Alex's great-great-great grandfather ran a store in a mining town in the Alaskan Yukon.

He made a sourdough starter to sell.

This same starter has been fed and maintained while being passed along the generations.

It's made its way from Alaska to Washington to California and now to Nevada.

From the late 1800s to today, that is one heck of a journey.

So your dad ended up giving it to you.

-Yes.

-When was that?

When did that happen?

(Alex White) So I got my starter in a mason jar when I left for college.

Kind of, you know, stepping out the door, my own way into the world, and he said here you go.

-And what did you think at that point?

He gives you a mason jar of starter.

Were you like... -You know, it was interesting.

At the time it just was part of his normal, but I didn't really do much with it, you know.

His starter has always been part of what we do for the family, but I never really thought much more beyond having it in the fridge, I'll feed it every now and then, make pancakes occasionally.

-And then what happened?

Because something clicked.

-Something clicked.

I used to throw a lot of parties at my apartment that were pizza parties where everyone would come, build their toppings on the pie, cook them off.

We'd eat, drink and have a good time.

One day I had a Neapolitan style pizza, which is a very thin, light, pillowy crust style pizza, and that's when the light bulb turned.

I was like all right, this is something that I'd like to learn how to make and make at home and use my sourdough on it.

That started the whole-- I fell down the rabbit hole of researching dough, researching how to use sourdough in baking, researching ovens and different ingredients.

And it's been probably eight years, more or less, start to finish, between now and when I started this whole thing.

-So somebody who has your pizza, they're actually involved in your family's story from the Yukon back in the 1800s.

-You're tasting a generation of sourdough that is essentially 123 years old at this point.

So however many millions of generations of that sourdough have gone through history, you're definitely a part of that.

You're ingesting that, and what's great about sourdough itself is it's naturally good for your gut biome.

So you're intrinsically inheriting that part of our culture.

-Pizza that's good for you.

What could be better than that?

-It's a health food.

-Hey, tell me what it feels to you.

I mean, this is very personal, it doesn't get any more.

You're not just warming up frozen pizzas, this is your family lineage.

What does it mean to you when people enjoy your pizza?

-I can't-- this is one of my favorite things about pizza-making for me is when I first started doing this, it's one thing to create something and share it with the world.

It's another when that world decides to take a bite of it.

So watching people eat my food and smile and come back for more, that was a really like powerful, powerful feeling, and that's something that really happens.

Every time we make pizza, we have someone who's never had it before and they light up.

It's truly a unique sensation, and we love what we do out here, and we think that also imparts upon the pizza.

You know, our passion, our fun, our creativity and our team all are invested as a family in our pizza, our sourdough, our story and making sure that everyone is fed.

You know, we really believe in feeding the family, the community, people around you, our friends.

Alex isn't alone on his pizza quest.

Justin here is a chef with a ton of pizza-making experience and a passion for the craft.

So what do you like about working with these guys?

(Justin Ford) It's a family environment.

They're good listeners, learners.

We need more of that, you know?

They're willing to learn and they're hungry.

That's what I like about that.

-They're hungry in more ways than one.

-Right.

Yes, sir.

-Hey, I'm hungry to learn how you do what you do.

Can you show me?

-Yes, sir, I sure can.

We have the sourdough, right?

We're going to open it up.

You want to let all the gas come to your crust, right?

-Now, all your-- I don't mean to mess you up-- all the dough that you use, it's all the same size, right?

-Yes, sir.

All one nice, happy size.

So I push it all out nice and gently.

-How did you learn how to do this?

I mean, I know you're well trained.

-Just years, years of practice.

Years of practice.

So you come up, open it up more and you slap.

-What's that do?

-Opens it up.

The Italian way of slapping the dough, right?

So we got our sauce, our tomato sauce, just right out of the can and pureed a little bit.

-If I'm making a pizza or you're teaching me how, what's the one thing I can never forget?

I must remember... -It's all about getting it out at the end of the day.

Anyone can make the pizza.

It's just getting it off is the hardest part.

Getting it on and off into the oven.

-Oh, really?

-That's the hardest part of making pizza.

-Because these pizzas, they go in and they come out quick.

-Quick, 90 seconds.

-90 seconds?

-Yes, sir.

Cut a little parm... -What's your favorite kind of pizza?

-Actually a margherita.

It's the best way to base it on pizza-making all over because it's the fewest ingredients and simplest.

Simplicity is the best.

-Simplicity is the best.

-Don't overthink it, just do it.

Yes, sir.

-So a supreme pizza isn't something you're into.

-That's that, you know, I hate to say it, corporate America thing everyone gets used to, adapted to those names.

So we try to have fun names.

-This is done in 90 seconds.

-Yes, sir.

All right.

Let's go.

♪♪♪ All right.

That's the hardest part.

-Getting it in?

-That's the hard part.

That right there is the number-one thing that will trick up any pizzamaker, the dropping in the oven.

-Did you ever think you'd be doing this?

-Not in a million years.

I never thought that I would end up being or pursuing really full time a pizza-making career in this way.

But like Justin said, born out of the pandemic, we decided to make a jump for something that made us happy, which is really our ultimate goal is to work for happiness, but also because we saw that we were able to provide and support our community during a time of crisis.

We opened up right away when the shutdown happened and offered really cheap pizzas to our local community and to our friends and family as a way to say-- working in the film industry, everyone that I knew lost their job, and not many people have gotten them back.

So I had suddenly hundreds of friends sitting around, everyone was locked down, and we had a chance and ability to share even more the pizza and the story, but mostly just feed our friends and feed our families.

Because when times get tough and things get really hard, that's really important.

That's what is important to us is taking care of each other.

You know, I think it's really lost in this world these days.

So Justin takes care of us, we take care of him, my brother and my wife.

-I think that's something the world is starving for, and I think they're going to taste it in your pizza.

And I got to just tell you that those are the best-looking pizzas I've ever seen, bar none, and I'm a pizza fan.

But those things are amazing.

-Well, you're going to really enjoy them I think.

It's going to be a very special experience for you if you've never had the sourdough woodfired experience; it's special.

-Hey, I want to thank you very much for taking time to tell your story, share your passion and your pizza; it's been a blast.

It's my kind afternoon.

Thank you.

-Well, are you going to come try some slices?

-Yeah, get out of my way.

-There we go.

That's what we like to see.

-Let's see this one.

This is the pepperoni?

-Classic pepperoni right there.

-Let me try it.

That's the best pizza I've ever had in my life.

-You heard it here.

-Just missing some pineapple.

(laughter) ♪♪♪ Oh, my gosh.

♪♪♪ Do you know what a herpetologist is?

Well, meet Jason Jones.

He is a herpetologist.

Jason loves his reptiles and loves his job.

(Jason Jones) So as the herpetologist for the state of Nevada, I'm in charge of over 50 reptile species.

And when I say in charge, I mean better understand their ecology, where they are, how many of them there are, and essentially kind of their status in terms of conservation needs across the entire state of Nevada.

It's a pretty ambitious task, and obviously all reptiles are evolutionarily really old, meaning they've been here for millions of years.

So you have a high diversity of reptiles, over 50 species current in the state of Nevada and are native, and of those species, about half are considered kind of special concern, or species of conservation priority, meaning we either lack information on, you know, their status in terms of if there's a lot of them or if there are a few of them, and we really don't understand where they are in the state.

So as a herpetologist, my job is to essentially design surveys and get folks, citizens and other collaborators like researchers, involved in our science so we can better understand some of these details like where and how many there are of these species.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife has a really great program where we take on volunteers, and it's essentially kind of like citizen science.

So what it is is people are able to come out, and depending on the survey or the opportunities, they can do everything from radio track tortoises or other animals to just going out and doing general kind of bio-blitz surveys.

And when I say bio-blitz, that's essentially people coming together and hiking around areas looking for wildlife and documenting what wildlife species they see.

So just the sheer numbers usually of people improve the chances of us finding certain species that are either rare or just really hard to see.

Photos go a long way, especially for us, when it comes to understanding where some of these species occur.

We rely heavily on citizen scientists or just general members of the public that have an interest in improving our understanding.

So taking photographs of things you see in the wild is a really great way to not only connect with that species and better understand what that species is and what they do, but also improving our understanding of where these species are so we can improve our management.

We have a volunteer website, and the best way to do that is just sign up as a volunteer, and usually you get contacted within a week or so from our volunteer coordinators.

And then depending on the project, you know, you can start right away or, you know, you may have to do some training.

I love what I do because it allows me to get outside and explore.

♪♪♪ Who doesn't love getting outside?

But you know, sometimes you just need a little help.

I want you to meet Satara.

She has the ability, the passion and the know-how to connect people through her love of the great outdoors.

♪♪♪ (Satara Cooley) An adventure is embracing freedom and having an open mind, being creative and connecting with people, loving what you do and just finding something new every time.

My name is Satara Cooley, and I'm a volunteer with Outdoor Afro.

I'm the leader here in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Outdoor Afro is where black people and nature meet.

We've been in existence for 11 years now.

It was founded by Rue Mapp.

I stumbled across Outdoor Afro four years ago.

I was very new to Las Vegas.

Black Friday was coming up, and I was like I don't want to go shopping.

So I Googled outdoor activities for Black Friday, and lo and behold, Outdoor Afro came up.

So I ended up doing a hike out at Valley of Fire.

I was hooked, I fell in love, and I wanted to be part of the organization.

About two or three months later, I applied to become a leader, I got accepted, and that's history for me.

I love everything about the outdoors, the sense of freedom, the variety of activities that you could participate in and do.

I pretty much do everything from biking to hiking to kayaking.

Friends turn me on to different things, and I'm like oh, my goodness, I really like this.

So I'm pretty adventurous and have a very spontaneous spirit.

And I'm a gearhead, so I want to explore nature and have fun, and that's how I get hooked in.

I'll Google things whether it be on Google, Facebook, word by mouth, and I just find myself in the coolest and strangest places just to have fun.

Anytime you're outside, it's just a sense of belonging and understanding who you are as a person.

So I like to embrace that, and when I do embrace it, I try to embrace it through all my events.

One event in particular was-- I love the moon, so I will often have full moon hikes between September and October.

So you'll have the Harvest Moon and the Hunter's Moon.

Typically a lot of times when these events come, people are like oh, you know, they're a little bit skeptical, and that's typical like the first year, and then the second year, the events grow because I provide some knowledge and some history.

I just love how people want to get connected and be reaffirmed with some of the information that you share.

So for one instance is the full moon, and another instance is my meteor shower that I hold annually in December.

Last year I had 17 people so we incorporated night photography and just viewing of the meteor shower.

So that was really cool, just to see the event grow in itself.

When I'm looking for events, I'll just Google cool things that are happening in this month to see how I can incorporate it.

I encourage people that if they're wanting to get out, start with like maybe a stroll and then gradually take up Mount Charleston or come out to Sloan Canyon.

There's lots of trails in the Nevada area that are local that you can enjoy.

Satara is right.

If you're looking to get out, Sloan Canyon is a great place to explore.

The trail system is not only expansive, it connects at so many points.

This makes the hiking experience a fun adventure, and don't forget the Sloan Canyon petroglyphs.

There are more than 300 rock art panels.

My favorite thing in Sloan Canyon is to look at the petroglyphs.

You can sit there for hours just looking at all the rock art trying to decipher what it means, and then particularly what it meant to that person that left it.

So sometimes you would just look at it and just be in amazement of the art and what stories it tells.

When I come here, it's a very spiritual moment for me, kind of like earlier when you're just getting away.

You can find some peace, some tranquility that will just take over your mind, and it's a great time to meditate.

I'll often find myself getting lost in the artwork and just losing myself, and I think that's a good time at times because when you're in the rat race of work or nine to five, you need an outlet, and the artwork is so beautiful you just find yourself being lost.

I love the outdoors in Nevada because it's the outdoor Mecca.

It has everything you need.

-The next time you get the itch to go outdoors, I highly recommend you do it.

And remember this: Through the life of Satara, you're never alone.

♪♪♪ Support for Outdoor Nevada comes from Jaguar Land Rover Las Vegas.

♪♪♪ Inspiring the spirit of adventure with confidence in any terrain or condition.

We're proud to help introduce a new generation of adventurers to the diverse experiences that our state has to offer.

Information at jlrlv.com.