Battle Mountain: First Nevada Test of New Wilderness Policy
Monday, December 14, 2009
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - As the New Year approaches, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be working on land use plans for the Battle Mountain District in central Nevada. It will be the first Nevada land planning fully under the Obama administration, which is reversing the so-called "No More Wild" policy established under President Bush.
Shaaron Netherton, executive director of Friends of Nevada Wilderness, says the BLM will establish a resource management plan for central Nevada in 2010. She expects the agency to get back into the business of making wilderness inventories that take into account the needs of wildlife.
"I'm very hopeful that with the new administration and with the new leadership at the BLM, that when this planning process gets going, it will be done and done well in a cooperative manner, looking at those wilderness values."
Netherton says it will be important for Nevadans who value the wild to make their views known to the BLM as to what portion of the 10.5 million acres of public land should be off-limits for development.
The Bush administration favored more oil and gas development and took the position that the BLM did not have the authority to identify and recommend new areas for wilderness protection. Netherton says Friends of Nevada Wilderness fought that stand in court.
"While energy is important, it's not the only thing. You know, our wildlife resources, our wilderness values are extremely important for public lands."
Netherton contends the lack of wilderness planning under the Bush administration is a big reason the proposed Ruby Pipeline was able to stray outside of designated transmission corridors and onto wild land adjacent to the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Washoe and Humboldt counties.
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