An historic package of Northern Nevada lands bills - six introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-2) and one by Rep. Steven Horsford (NV-4) passed the House Natural Resources Committee by unanimous consent on July 30.
The compromise agreement was made possible after adjustments to the legislation were made to a version passed in January, according to Congressman Mark Amodei, whose office also said the bipartisan support clears the way for the legislation to be brought to the House floor in September as a non-controversial suspension bill.
The package of bills will then move to the Senate, where Nevada's Senators Dean Heller and Harry Reid have pledged to work for passage.
Of the total of seven bills, Amodei of Nevada's 2nd Congressional District introduced six, and Representative Steven Horsford of Nevada's 4th Congressional District introduced one.
"These are community-driven lands measures that will create jobs without cost to the federal taxpayer," said Amodei.
"Working to create jobs and strengthen the middle class has been my number one priority in Congress," said Horsford. "Today, Democrats and Republicans unanimously moved a legislative package forward that will grow Nevada's economy. Thanks to Congressman Mark Amodei and others, we have been able to find common sense bipartisan solutions that bridge the partisan divide. When we work together and put Nevada first, political posturing fades into the background, and our constituents benefit."
Nevada U.S. Senator Dean Heller supports all seven titles of Northern Nevada Public Lands package and will work hard to see them enacted before the end of this Congress, according to a press release from his office.
The Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act includes:
The Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act: would designate 26,000 acres of land as wilderness and reroute roads that currently run through sensitive lands. It proposes to release, for multi-use, all the portions of the Blue Lakes and Alder Creek Wilderness Study Areas that are not within the 26,000 acres designated as wilderness. The act seeks to protect public access for Onion Reservoir, make clear the supremacy of Nevada water law, and it identifies a number of land exchanges involving specific federal and private lands in Humboldt County.
The Lyon County Economic Development and Conservation Act: which Congressman Steven Horsford called "the jewel of the package" in the Reno Gazette Journal. The act seeks to open the way for Yerington to partner with Nevada Copper to purchase, at fair market value, some 12,500 acres of federal lands. Those lands would be annexed to the city. The act would also allow the transfer of 19 square-miles of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the City of Yerington for economic development use.
The bills would create 71,500 acres of wilderness while releasing or selling roughly a third of that amount into multiple uses and economic development projects.
Senator Dean Heller said he would continue to work with Senator Harry Reid on building bipartisan momentum to "Send the proposal to the President for signature before the end of the 113th Congress.[[In-content Ad]]
