Humboldt County Commissioners are planning a public meeting to give residents the opportunity to hear and comment on the complete Nevada Lands Task Force recommendations before they go to the Legislative Interim Committee on Public Lands toward the end of this summer. Commissioners agreed to pay to have Task Force consultant Dr. Mike Baughman travel to Winnemucca to present the report and answer any questions that may be asked by members of the public who attend the meeting.
The 17-member Nevada Lands Task Force, comprised of a representative of each county in the state, was given the job by the Nevada Legislature to fully study whether the state should make a congressional request for control of more of the land within its boundaries.
Elko County Commissioner Demar Dahl, selected as Task Force chairman, acknowledged early on that getting 17 counties to agree on recommendations would be a significant challenge. But he asked Task Force members to hold off on taking a firm stance on any of the questions that needed to be researched until the months of information gathering had been done and testimony by subject matter experts had been heard.
Commissioner Dan Cassinelli has been Humboldt County's representative on the Task Force; Commissioner Jim French has also attended some of the meetings and both have reported back in the commissioner report portion of their regular commission meetings. Not many county residents have heard those reports, or taken the opportunity to ask questions or give input - which is the reason they're planning a special evening public meeting, which the commissioners hope will draw more participation.
The Task Force's information gathering process has largely been completed and Baughman has compiled the information received and members' discussions into a draft report outlining the Task Force findings and recommendations. Each county is in the process of determining how to put that report and its recommendations out to the public for their input and questions.
Humboldt County Commissioners haven't yet set the date for the public meeting here but once they've coordinated with Baughman, they'll put out the word on date and location. Each county representative on the task force is responsible for doing their best to put the committee's findings and recommendations before their county residents answer questions, and get input. They hope to draw interested county residents so the recommendations presented to the Legislative Interim Committee on Public Lands will truly represent a state-wide consensus.
Contact Joyce Sheen at j.sheen@winnemuccapublishing.net[[In-content Ad]]
