Nevada Backroaders

Hi Everyone,

Just as we were thinking that the Gold Butte NCA/wilderness bill was ‘dead’ for the rest of this year, late Friday afternoon Congresswoman Shelley Berkley introduced HR 1732 which seeks to ‘protect’ 362,177 acres of public land in the Gold Butte area as a NCA and to provide an additional layer of protection to 220,000 (approximately) acres of land as wilderness. This massive amount of land encompasses just about every acre of public land south of the town of Bunkerville to the lake and east of Lake Mead to the state-line. As you may know, Congresswoman Berkley represents the 3rd District which is most of urban Las Vegas; the Gold Butte region is not in her District. This is politics at its very worst---it is practically unheard of for a legislator to introduce legislation about public land outside their district, but Congresswoman Berkley is arrogantly pursuing this course of action; further, this bill (HR 1732) has been introduced during the economy crisis, apparently hoping to get this legislation snuck through while we are worrying about other matters. This bill has literally been introduced at the last moment and it appears the strategy is to get this bill fast-tracked through the process and passed before we know about it.



Here is how you can look up the article that appeared on Saturday in the RJ: http://www.lvrj.com/news/29835634.html



Here is how you can look up the actual bill: http://media.lvrj.com/documents/goldbuttebill.pdf



Before going any further, I want you to know that if you do not support or believe in these comments, I still urge you to take the time and make your thoughts known about this issue to your representatives.



Congressman Porter and his staff have called PIC and asked us to help get the word out about this irresponsible bill. Make no mistake about this----this bill will go forward UNLESS our representatives hear in overwhelming numbers that we are opposed to this bill. I urge you to take the time to tell all the legislators what you think and please also urge your family and friends to do the same thing. It is absolutely essential that we make our voices heard.



I have talked to several people who understand politics at the federal level. They tell me it will do no good to tell our representatives that we hate sneaky legislation, bills introduced in the dark of night, etc. This argument will fall on deaf ears as they all do it—we must not dilute our message with statements that give them an excuse to tune us out. I know you are all more than busy and so I have prepared statements that you can cut and paste into emails and letters or state over the phone to all our representatives in the hopes of making it easier for everyone to voice their opinions. Of course, state your OWN thoughts in your OWN words, but I have listed below key talking points for all of us to reference and use, if that makes it easier and quicker for everyone to contact their legislators. I have also provided below, all the correct contact info that you will need.



Please note that Congressman Berkley will not accept your email unless you live in her District. Apparently it is OK for her to push through legislation that isn’t in her district, but it is not OK for us to email her and complain. The hypocrisy of her policies is repulsive. (That is certainly a specific comment you can make to Berkley). However, the kind Congresswoman will allow her staff to take phone calls or accept letters, so please contact Congresswoman Berkley that way, and the same applies to Congressman Heller; he won’t accept emails outside his District either.



THE MAIN MESSAGE WE NEED TO TELL ALL OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES IS THIS:



The public has not ever had the opportunity to hear about making Gold Butte an NCA and wilderness area; there have been no maps for the public to look at, no paperwork to provide the public with information regarding this bill. Local communities have not been consulted. Local town boards have requested presentations about this bill, to no avail. This controversial and critically important legislation needs TIME for the public to be informed and for the public to make comments. The groups pushing for Gold Butte to be an NCA/wilderness area have been lobbying Congress for a decade, but they have never bothered to hold public meetings and inform the public.



Regarding previous wilderness/land bill designations----multiple meetings were held prior to designating land in Clark County to be wilderness in 2002. Public meetings were held then; but not now. Several years of public meetings were held prior to land being designated as wilderness in Lincoln County in 2005. Many public meetings were held then, but not now. Public meetings were held regarding making Sloan Canyon an NCA several years ago; public meetings were held then, but not now.



This bill must be killed for this session; the public must be given time to be informed of the issues and implications of this bill; the public must be given time to make comments on this bill; public meetings must be held and local government entities must have the opportunity to officially make comments regarding Gold Butte as an NCA.



WE MUST HAMMER THE ABOVE POINT HOME; WE NEED TO KEEP OUR MESSAGE SIMPLE AND FOCUS ON THE ABOVE. IN OVERWHELMING NUMBERS, OUR REPRESENTATIVES MUST BE TOLD THAT THIS BILL HAS NOT BEEN BROUGHT BEFORE THE PUBLIC AND THE PUBLIC HAS NOT HAD TIME TO MAKE COMMENTS ON THIS BILL.



It would also be very helpful to add a personal comment about how you feel about the Gold Butte/Virgin Mountains/Whitney Pockets area in your communication. Tell them that your family picnics at Whitney Pockets, explores the mines in Gold Butte, your son has Boy Scout camping trips, you hunt, you ride ATVs on the foothills of the Virgin Mountains-----tell them a quick personal reason why you care about Gold Butte, tell them why Gold Butte is important to you and therefore you have a right to make comments and be involved in the decisions that affect the Gold Butte area.

INSIST THAT YOUR COMMENTS GET LOGGED INTO THE OFFICIAL RECORD STATING THAT YOU ARE OPPOSED TO BILL HR 7132 AND THAT YOU INSIST IT BE PULLED/KILLED FOR THE REST OF THIS SESSION.



You can email or write a letter or call with a brief statement; it doesn’t have to be a book; just demand that they kill the bill this session as this bill needs time to go through the public process so that the public can understand and comment on this bill. In a sentence or two, tell they why Gold Butte is important to you. It doesn’t have to be long---it just needs to be done. And we all need to repeat the above with each of the legislators listed below and probably to our county commissioners also.



I would suggest that if Berkley’s staff doesn’t want to take your comments because you aren’t in her District, that you remind them that Gold Butte isn’t in Berkley’s District.



Feel free to copy PIC on any of your correspondence, emails, or send me a quick email that you made phone calls. We want to be able to keep a tally on the number of comments so that we may raise a big fuss if a lower number of comments against the bill is quoted. I know this is a little extra work, but at this point it is critical to keep track of how many comments are being made----if you have a better idea of tracking this, please let me know.



Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time, for additional information, if you have questions you need answers to, anything at all-----please do not hesitate to get in touch with me; this is so important!!! PLEASE, PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY---PLEASE SPREAD THIS INFORMATION AROUND AND PLEASE URGE EVERYONE TO CONTACT THEIR REPRESENTATIVES.



Here is all the contact info you will need:



Senator Harry Reid
Washington D.C. Office
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-3542

Fax: 202-224-7327

Toll Free: 866-736-7343

Email: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm



Senator John Ensign
Washington D.C. Office
119 Russell Senate Building
Washington DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-6244

Fax: 202-228-2193

Email: http://ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm



Representative Jon Porter
Washington D.C. Office
218 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202-225-3252

Fax: 202-225-2185

Email: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

(you will fill out a standard form to get to Representative Porter)



Representative Shelley Berkley
Washington D.C. Office
405 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202-225-5965

Fax: 202-225-3119

Email: http://berkley.house.gov/contact/email.html

(this is a form, but Representative Berkley only accepts email from people who live in her district—she will only accept letters or phone calls)



Representative Dean Heller
Washington D.C. Office
1023 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202-225-6155

Fax: 202-225-5679

Email: http://heller.house.gov/zipauth.shtml

(this is a form, but Representative Heller only accepts emails from people who live in his district—he may accept letters or phone calls)



Here are our County Commissioners; please also send an email to at least the commissioner representing you and it wouldn’t hurt to all of them as it does appear, in some way (still researching this) that support from the Clark County Commissioners is one of the reasons given by Berkley to validate the reason to submit this bill.



All Commissioners can be reached at this phone number and at this mailing address:

500 Grand Central Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89106
702-455-3500

Bruce Woodbury

ccdista@co.clark.nv.us



Tom Collins

ccdistb@co.clark.nv.us



Chip Maxfield

ccdistc@co.clark.nv.us



Lawrence Weekly

ccdistd@co.clark.nv.us



Chris Giunchigliani

ccdiste@co.clark.nv.us



Susan Brager

ccdistf@co.clark.nv.us



Rory Reid

ccdistg@co.clark.nv.us



Thank you so much for caring about public land issues and taking the time to let our representatives and elected officials KNOW what you think. Please don’t hesitate to call or email me with questions, comments, suggestions, etc.

Thanks again,

Elis

_________________

the map of the "Land Grab"showing the 300,000+ acres


if this can happen here in the west...
our Freedom to wheel will be in jeopardy

_________________

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/30085279.html


IN THE OUTDOORS: Gold Butte land bill too limiting

There was a time when the great thing about living in Southern Nevada was its wide-open spaces, most of it on public land. One could travel in just about any direction and find someplace new and interesting to visit or someplace new and inviting to hunt.

Living in the growing city was made tolerable because you always could get away from the crowds by taking a drive into the desert on one of many roads that miners, ranchers and wandering explorers left behind long ago.

Berkley's bill also addresses the use of motorized vehicles. "... The use of motorized vehicles in the conservation area shall be allowed only on roads and trails designated for use of motor vehicles in the management plan ..." Given the local history of these management plans and their implementation -- the Las Vegas Resource Management Plan, for example -- this clause gives me a warm fuzzy all over. I wonder how long before the roads and trails all would be posted with no-motorized-vehicles signs.

I understand the Gold Butte area has experienced an increase in public use, especially with the open space just outside of Las Vegas off limits to all but the most ardent hikers. And I understand thoughtless visitors are degrading some of the area's cultural resources. And I understand ATVs and other motorized vehicles don't belong on every hill.


But that's no longer the case. With the Bureau of Land Management's no off-pavement travel closure surrounding the Las Vegas Valley for miles in every direction, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area to the east, the Sloan Canyon Conservation Area to the south, the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area to the west and the Desert Wildlife Refuge and Nellis Bombing Range to the north, Southern Nevadans have been hemmed in like cattle with political fences on all sides. Some days I feel like a calf with his head stuck between strands of barbed wire looking for somewhere else to be.

Now, with the help of U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, things could get worse. On Friday, Berkley introduced H.R. 1732, a piece of legislation that if passed would create the Gold Butte Conservation Area: more than 565 square miles of rules, regulations and travel closures. Included in the legislation is language that would create another 13 new wilderness areas totaling more than 220,300 acres. More than 91,000 acres of that wilderness would fall within the Lake Mead NRA, where public access to the lake's shoreline already significantly is limited to anyone who does not own a boat.

This is in addition to the 45 other Nevada wilderness areas created since 2002 by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Act and the Lincoln County and White Pine County land bills.

For those of us who enjoy hunting quail in Gold Butte's remote setting, this bill could have far-reaching affects. In regard to hunting, fishing and trapping, the bill initially reads, "Nothing in this title affects the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada with respect to fish and wildlife, including hunting, fishing and trapping in the conservation area." This might be enough to make most believe their hunting, fishing or trapping activities won't be curtailed if this bill is passed.

Then a few pages later comes the weasel clause: "The Secretary of Interior may designate, by regulation, areas in which, and establish periods during which, for reasons of public safety, administration, or compliance with applicable laws, no hunting, fishing, or trapping will be permitted in wilderness areas designated or expanded by this title."

This is the same kind of language that has enabled land managers to bypass the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and arbitrarily close public lands to public access. The bill goes on to say, "Except in cases of an emergency, the secretary shall make such designations in consultation with the appropriate agency of the State of Nevada." That "emergency clause" is the loophole that enabled the local BLM manager to close all nonpaved roads on the outskirts of Las Vegas to vehicle travel.

But do we have to jump to the wilderness and conservation area designations? Isn't there something in the middle that will allow continued use of the land by people of varied interests while protecting the most significant resources?

If people grow up not knowing the land, they will grow up not loving the land. If they do not love the land, they will not respect the land. If they do not respect the land, they eventually will turn their back on the land.

Doug Nielsen is an award-winning freelance writer and a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column is published Thursday. He can be reached at doug@takinitoutside.com.

_________________
Access Army - Joint Chiefs of Staff
Blue Ribbon Coalition - Life Member
BRC Kickin’ Access Technology (KAT) Team - Charter Member
Graduate of Del Albright's RLTC course
Just Good Trails - Trail Boss
Tread Lightly - Tread Trainer

here is the current status of this bill.

H.R.7132
Title: To establish the Gold Butte National Conservation Area in Clark County, Nevada, to conserve, protect, and enhance the cultural, archaeological, natural, wilderness, scientific, geological, historical, biological, wildlife, educational, and scenic resources of the area, to designate wilderness areas in the county, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] (introduced 9/26/2008) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 10/6/2008 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

The number listed above is wrong, so it makes it hard to find on www.thomas.gov.

Todd

_________________
Member of the following:
BRC, Cal4Wheel, and my local clubs.