The local-area, bottom-up, collaborative process that resulted in the Pine Forest lands bill has been called "the gold standard" for how a lands bill should be developed. It isn't the fastest way to develop a lands bill, and it's not the easiest, according to those who took part in the process.
Jim Jeffress, the architect of the Pine Forest bill process, brought together over 20 representatives, including wilderness advocates and environmentalists, sportsmen, local government representatives, ranchers, land management representatives, hikers, hunters and fishermen.
Jeffress said the whole process began in 2010 when the Humboldt County commissioners wanted a way to resolve wilderness study area (WSA) designations, believing that WSAs were supposed to be studied, and then either designated as wilderness by Congress, or released as multiple use.
Commissioner Tom Fransway actually made the outreach for a non-governmental organization (NGO) to help frame and facilitate a process for development of a county lands bill, according to Jeffress.
Trout Unlimited stepped forward as the (NGO) and hired Jeffress, who had experience with northern Nevada lands issues, and lots of contacts, to head the work.
Jeffress approached the county commissioners and asked for their blessing on the effort to put together a county lands bill from the bottom up, rather than the top-down Congressional process. The commissioners did that in the form of a formal resolution passed unanimously. Jeffress then went to work to gather the stakeholders group, labeled the Pine Forest Working Group.
A compromise proposal was developed in a series of public meetings and field trips.
"Since the county commission passed the recommendations found in this legislation in 2010, no opposition to this bill has been brought to our attention; rather, support continues to grow," County Administrator Bill Deist said. "The review process we sanctioned resulted in the right recommendations for this area of our county."
After unanimous approval by the Humboldt County commissioners, the bill was taken to the Nevada Legislature in a bid for their approval. The Legislature responded by passing a joint resolution in support.
That was a first for Nevada, according to Sen. Harry Reid (D), who said, "This process was so successful that, for the first time that I can remember, a wilderness proposal was presented to our delegation with almost unanimous support and the Nevada State Legislature passed a joint resolution endorsing the work of the county commission and the Pine Forest Working Group."
Both the Nevada Legislature and the Secretary of the Interior labeled the locally-originating, collaborative process the "gold standard" for developing a lands bill.
Sen. Dean Heller described the working group collaboration as "robust" and "inclusive," declaring, "The Pine Forest bill is a model of how public land designations should be handled. This was done in an open and transparent manner that brought local communities and stake holders to the table."
Although the bill has spent over three years in the effort to get around numerous Washington roadblocks after leaving Nevada, and isn't yet home free, Jeffress said, "We've been assured all along that the content of the Pine Forest bill is not controversial and should be held as a template as to how to do it right. All along, Congressman Amodei and Sens. Heller and Reid indicated the bill was solid, it is just caught up in the political atmosphere of D.C. If that scenario changes, other processes like the Pine Forest could become more of an influence in public land issues."
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