Anyone interested in becoming a tour operator at Lake Mead can apply for the 10-year contract that begins in October.

The National Park Service is soliciting for proposals to operate sightseeing boat tours and other related services at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The current Lake Mead Cruises concession contract, which expires Sept. 30, includes operation of the Desert Princess paddlewheel tour boat and the Lake Mead Cruises landing at Hemenway Harbor. The new concessioner will provide sightseeing tours and related services in the Boulder Basin/Hoover Dam area of Lake Mead.

The Lake Mead visitor center will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays as part of a new schedule, according to the National Park Service.

Starting April 8, the newly renovated Alan Bible Visitor Center at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which reopened Feb. 15, will be open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Although the main visitor center will be closed two days a week, visitors will still be able to receive park information at park entrance stations and at the information center at park headquarters at 601 Nevada Way in Boulder City. The information center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Visitor information is also available online at www.nps.gov/lake or by phone at  293-8990.

Public input is needed on a potential National Park Service project related to the Las Vegas Wash.

The National Park Service completed an environmental assessment related to the lower end of Las Vegas Wash which analyzed a proposal to regulate flows and reduce erosion in the wash.

The assessment describes two alternatives:

• Under the first option, no action would be taken.
• Under the second option, up to six new grade control structures would be built downstream from the existing ones. They would be built as necessary, with the need depending significantly on future water levels at Lake Mead, which influence the rate of degradation in the wash.