Senate Joint Resolution No. 3–Committee on
Natural Resources

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

SENATE Joint RESOLUTION—Urging Congress to take certain actions concerning wilderness areas and wilderness study areas.

 

    Whereas, The provisions of 16 U.S.C. §§ 1131 et seq.,

 commonly referred to as the Wilderness Act, establish the National

 Wilderness Preservation System, which consists of areas of federal

 public land that are designated by Congress as wilderness areas;

 and

    Whereas, Congress has designated approximately 2 million

 acres of certain federal public lands in Nevada as wilderness areas;

 and

    Whereas, If an area of federal public land is designated as a

 wilderness area, it must be managed in a manner that preserves the

 wilderness character of the area and ensures that the area remains

 unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as a wilderness area; and

    Whereas, A reasonable amount of wilderness area in this state

 provides for a diverse spectrum of recreational opportunities in

 Nevada, promotes tourism and provides a place for Nevadans to

 escape the pressures of urban growth; and

    Whereas, In conjunction with the provisions of the Wilderness

 Act, the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the

 Interior in the late 1970s conducted an initial inventory of

 approximately 49 million acres of federal public lands in Nevada to

 determine the suitability of such lands for designation as wilderness

 areas or identification as wilderness study areas and, in 1980,

 recommended that approximately 5.1 million acres of those lands

 be identified as wilderness study areas; and

    Whereas, Until a wilderness study area is designated by

 Congress as a wilderness area or released for multiple use, the

 wilderness study area must be managed in a manner that does not

 impair its suitability for preservation as a wilderness area; and

    Whereas, In 1991, the Bureau of Land Management

 recommended that Congress designate as wilderness areas

 approximately 1.9 million acres of the 5.1 million acres of

 wilderness study areas in Nevada and release the remainder of the

 wilderness study areas for multiple use; and

    Whereas, Although Congress recently enacted the Clark

 County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of

 2002, Public Law 107-282 (2002), which released approximately

 224,000 acres in Clark County from its current status as wilderness

 study areas, the recommendations made by the Bureau of Land

 Management in 1991 have largely not been acted upon by

 Congress, and the Bureau continues to manage approximately 3.86

 million

acres of federal public lands in Nevada identified as wilderness

study areas; and

    Whereas, It is important that decisions concerning whether to

 designate wilderness study areas as wilderness areas or release

 those areas for multiple use are made in a timely manner without

 any unnecessary delays as the identification of federal public lands

 as wilderness study areas is believed to impose significant

 restrictions on the management and use of those lands; and

    Whereas, It is also important to protect the ecological health

 and existing and potential economic and recreational benefits of

 wilderness areas and wilderness study areas in this state by using

 reasonable and effective methods of fire suppression in those areas;

 and

    Whereas, Because approximately 2 million acres of federal

 public land in Nevada have been designated as wilderness areas and

 approximately 8.6 percent of the federal public land in Nevada that

 is managed by the Bureau of Land Management has been identified

 as wilderness study areas and because such designation or

 identification is believed to impose significant restrictions

 concerning the management and use of such land, including land

 used for mining, ranching and recreation, the Legislative

 Commission appointed a subcommittee in 2001 to conduct an

 interim study of wilderness areas and wilderness study areas in this

 state; and

    Whereas, During the 2001-2002 legislative interim, the

 subcommittee met several times throughout this state and facilitated

 important and wide-ranging discussions among many agencies,

 organizations and persons with diverse interests, perspectives and

 expertise concerning wilderness areas and wilderness study areas;

 and

    Whereas, The subcommittee received a great deal of valuable

 input from those agencies, organizations and persons, including

 many valuable recommendations for Congress to consider in

 addressing the issues concerning wilderness areas and wilderness

 study areas in a responsible, reasonable and fair manner; now,

 therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of

 Nevada, Jointly, That the members of the Nevada Legislature

 urge Congress to:

    1.  Support efforts to ensure that adequate access to wilderness

 areas and wilderness study areas is afforded to the appropriate

 agencies and persons so that those agencies and persons may

 effectively combat fires in wilderness areas and wilderness study

 areas;

    2.  Support the use of all reasonable and effective fire

 suppression efforts in wilderness areas and wilderness study areas

without strictly confining such efforts only to the tools determined

by the federal agencies which manage federal public lands to be the

 minimum tools necessary;

    3.  Accept the recommendation of the Bureau of Land

 Management to designate 1.9 million acres of certain wilderness

 study areas in Nevada as wilderness areas while also incorporating

 in the designation process flexibility to consider relevant

 information such as growth to ensure the establishment of

 appropriate boundaries for those areas and recognizing that such

 consideration may result in a reasonable adjustment of those

 boundaries;

    4.  Oppose any efforts to conduct another inventory of the

 federal public lands in Nevada for purposes of creating wilderness

 areas or wilderness study areas without first releasing wilderness

 study areas determined to be unsuitable for designation as

 wilderness areas;

    5.  Ensure that more current information is considered before

 acting on the recommendations of the Bureau of Land Management

 concerning the designation of wilderness areas in Nevada as the

 surveys of the Bureau were performed with limited time, resources

 and technology; and

    6.  Avoid any unnecessary delays in releasing wilderness study

 areas for multiple use by establishing a plan for addressing the

 release of wilderness study areas in a timely manner that includes a

 schedule or plan for the timely consideration of important issues

 concerning wilderness study areas; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and

 transmit a copy of this resolution to the Vice President of the

 United States as the presiding officer of the Senate, the Speaker of

 the House of Representatives and each member of the Nevada

 Congressional Delegation; and be it further

    Resolved, That this resolution becomes effective upon

 passage.

 

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