ATTENTION
EVERYONE WHO ENJOYS THE PUBLIC LANDS OF GOLD
BACKGROUND:
There is an organized and determined group of people who
have drafted legislation to declare all of the
This issue is further complicated by many generalities and statements about the future. Partners In Conservation (PIC) has researched past NCAs as it seems reasonable to assume that the management of the Gold Butte NCA (and accompanying wilderness) will be similar to the management of previously designated NCAs and wilderness. Below you will find some bullet points followed by exact quotes from the Sloan Canyon NCA--the NCA that supporters state they want the Gold Butte NCA to be modeled after. There is also a section containing the addresses and contact information for our Federal Representatives and Senators.
Finally, you will find contact information for myself, Elise McAllister, Administrator for PIC. Please feel free to contact me if you have
any questions, need additional information, want to discuss this issue, or have
comments you want me to hear, etc. There
are good people on both sides of this passionate issue. PIC does not want to tell you what to think; we want to present you
with information and then have YOU tell us what you
think.
SUMMARY OF RELEVANT INFORMATION:
*Designating wilderness and NCAs always reduces multiple use acreage; multiple use acreage is never added to compensate for more restrictive designations. Every other designation is more restrictive than multiple use.
*Designating wilderness and NCAs take money from the budget that is historically appropriated for multiple use or takes money from surrounding land sales, etc. to pay for the additional costs of wilderness and NCA designation.
*The actual legislation for NCAs and wilderness designation is very general; the restrictions come into play in the Management Plan for that NCA. Once a management plan is set in place, the NCA manager may make all kinds of decisions without any kind of public process. For example, the actual legislation for Sloan Canyon states (A-3) “Motorized vehicles—the use of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area shall be permitted only on roads and trails designated for the use of motorized vehicles by the management plan developed under subsection (b).” But in the management plan, Pg 10: “The entire NCA is closed to OHV use.” In a letter dated May 22, 2008: “As stated in the Sloan Canyon NCA Resource Management Plan, motorized uses are not consistent with the NCA designation and therefore will not be considered during this process.” (the process is building some trails) Again, although the actual legislation states that OHV/motorized use shall be permitted only on roads and trails designated for such use---the end result (from the management plan) is NO OHV/MOTORIZED USE.
*Taking your dog with you to run and play is often restricted in some NCAs, animals must be kept on a lease; some NCAs or portions of NCAs do not allow dogs at all.
* In the Sloan Canyon NCA, use in some areas of the NCA is actually more restrictive than use in a wilderness area, i.e., no camping, no hiking off of trails, no dogs, day use only, access with permits only, etc. Fees may be charged at the entrance to NCAs as is done at the Red Rock NCA.
ACTUAL QUOTES FROM
Pg 10: “Leashed dogs are allowed within designated areas of the NCA and, within those areas, must remain on trails once they are designed and constructed. Dogs are prohibited in the remainder of the NCA.” (dogs are prohibited in 35,835 acres; dogs allowed on lease in 12,616 acres)
Pg 12: “Campfires are allowed at camping sites in fire pans or with fire blankets; no campfire rings allowed.” “The Petroglyph Management Area is designated Day Use Only, with fires, camping, and nighttime use prohibited.” “All forms of recreational target shooting….are prohibited throughout the NCA.”
Pg 17: “Visitors to the Petroglyph Management Area during periods of high use, such as weekends and holidays, must join a BLM-sponsored tour. No more than one guided group of no more than 20 people are allowed in the Petroglyph Management Area (PMA) at one time.” “During periods of lower use (such as weekdays), visitors may go to the Petroglyph Management Area unaccompanied by a BLM-sponsored guide if they obtain a permit.” (You actually must have a permit to access certain areas of this NCA.) “Access to the PMA is confined to the canyon bottom and a limited number of trails.” “Rangers and other BLM staff or designated personnel will patrol the PMA for visitors entering from points other than the visitor center and will either deny access based on visitation levels or issue a visitation permit.” “Cross-country hiking is allowed throughout the Wilderness, except for the PMA and its north access where hikers must stay on designated trails.” (You can NOT even walk off of trails in some areas of the NCA.)
PIC IS OF THE GENERAL OPINION:
BLM managed land
should be managed for multiple use--like the BLM is
mandated to do, and that public land should be accessible to all and managed in
the least restrictive manner—it is, after all,
Finally, PIC firmly believes that there are many ways to accomplish ‘conservation’. Time and time again, when conservation is needed to balance legislation, ‘conservation’ is automatically assumed to be designating land as wilderness and/or NCAs. It is time to point out that erroneous logic. Conservation can be accomplished by many means, all of which should actively involve the public. The assumption that wilderness and/or NCA designations are the ONLY forms of conservation is a fundamentally flawed concept. Let’s be innovative, think outside the box for once, and develop a list of conservation ideas that actively involve people instead of constantly restricting them.
That is what PIC believes; please take the time to study this issue and then tell your elected federal representatives what you believe. If you like, please feel free to tell us also.
ADDRESSES, CONTACT INFORMATION FOR
U.S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES:
The two most critical elected officials to contact are U.S.
Representative Jon Porter and U.S. Senator Harry Reid, but it would be a good
idea to let the entire
Senator Harry Reid
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free: 866-736-7343
Email: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Senator John
Ensign
119 Russell Senate Building
Phone: 202-224-6244
Fax: 202-228-2193
Email: http://ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm
Representative Jon
Porter
218 Cannon House Office Building
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
439 Cannon House Office Building
Phone: 202-225-5965
Fax: 202-225-3119
Email: http://berkley.house.gov/contact/email.html
(you will fill out a standard form to get to Representative Berkley)
Representative
Dean Heller
1023
Phone: 202-225-6155
Fax: 202-225-5679
Email: http://heller.house.gov/zipauth.shtml
(this is a form, but Representative Heller only accepts messages from people who live in his district)
PIC CONTACT INFORMATION:
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, need
additional information, want to discuss this issue, or have comments you want
me to hear, etc. Please remember, PIC does not want to tell you what to think;
we want to present you with information and then have YOU tell
us what you think.
Administrator
Partners In
Conservation
picorg@mvdsl.com
702-864-2464
(voice mail)
702-864-2253
(fax)
702-219-2033
(cell)
partners-in-conservation.com