Graffiti removed from Kyle Canyon
The graffiti is gone at Big Falls.
A dozen teenagers from the Spring Mountain Youth Camp used hammers and chisels to carefully chip away spray paint that had tarnished the falls’ steep, rock walls up a rugged ravine above Kyle Canyon on Mount Charleston.
Probation officer Maurice Hernandez said last week that some of the boys from the Clark County correctional camp who were assigned the task had faced charges related to graffiti crimes.
"That’s why we chose the young men," he said.
In all, the 12 youths under the supervision of three camp staff members combined for 240 hours of work, 20 hours each, over a span of five days to complete the job.
The youth camp has a contract with the U.S. Forest Service to perform work such as improving trails in the Spring Mountains.
Hernandez said his staff members were aware of the graffiti problem at Big Falls and were planning to take steps to correct it. The work began on June 14, the day after the Review-Journal published a story about vandalism at Big Falls.
He said youth camp officials had considered using chemicals, such as paint remover, to erase the graffiti, but there was concern about toxic compounds contaminating the Big Falls drainage.
"It came down to hammers and chisels," Hernandez said.
U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer Kevin Hart had hiked to Big Falls on June 12 to take evidence photographs of the 12-foot-long swaths of spray paint that he said vandals probably put there late last year.
The graffiti included black letters that spelled, "PYRO," below the image of a devil’s face and the "Y" shaped like a pitchfork.
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