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	Rep. Berkley Introduces Gold Butte NCA Bill

	By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Published October 1, 2008 Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev) introduced a bill in Congress on Friday, September 26, to designate nearly a half-million acres of federal land in Northeast Clark County as wilderness or with other federal restrictions. The bill would create a National Conservation Area for 362,177 acres, more than 565 square miles, for the Gold Butte region. This land would encompass nearly every acre of public land south of the town of Bunkerville stretching down to Lake Mead, and east of Lake Mead to the Arizona state-line. Within the conservation area, 128,373 acres would be given added protection and managed as federal wilderness, a designation that puts heavy restrictions for users and, among other things, prohibits vehicle traffic of any kind. The bill proposes nine new wilderness areas as part of the new Gold Butte NCA. These include Virgin Peak (21,681 acres), Black Ridge (17, 303 acres), Bitter Ridge (15,218 acres), Billy Goat Peak (29,949 acres), Million Hills (24,840 acres), Twin Springs (9,684 acres), Scanlon Wash (22,826 acres), Hells Kitchen (12,439 acres) and Lime Canyon (9,382 acres). Additionally, the bill would grant wilderness status to 91,000 acres at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. These include a new Overton Wilderness Area (23,227 acres), a Hiller Mountains area (14,832 acres) and an Indian Hills area (8,955 acres). "The NCA that I am proposing would give Clark County the ability to expand development in other areas, in exchange for making Gold Butte the new cornerstone of our already established, and highly effective, habitat conservation plan," Berkley said in a statement. "Without this protection Clark County could see growth come to a grinding halt." The bill advances the agenda of a coalition of Nevada preservationists that has repeatedly lobbied Congress to name Gold Butte as a conservation area. Early in the summer, the coalition that included Friends of Gold Butte and the Nevada Wilderness Project had brought the proposal to Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.). The Gold Butte region and its surrounding areas lie in Porter's congressional district. Porter took the proposal to his constituents in the rural Moapa and Virgin Valley areas in order to get feedback from those of his constituents who would be most affected by it. The Bunkerville Town Advisory Board registered a strong objection to the plan. The Moapa Town Advisory Board never met to discuss the issue. The Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board expressed a willingness to work with the concept of a Gold Butte NCA under very specific conditions. The MVTAB proposed a set of rural values that, if included in the NCA legislation, would drive the planning process. These values were meant to preserve traditional access to the public lands while taking specific steps to protect the resource. Two weeks ago, Porter told Town Board leaders that he was putting the legislation on hold to give time to work out the details. But that apparently gave an opportunity for the preservationist coalition to approach Berkley. Berkley's bill, HR 7132, was introduced on Friday in the midst of the confusion over the ongoing national financial crisis. Berkley said that she had responded to a request from Clark County to introduce the legislation. "The Clark County Commission fully supports this effort," said Berkley. "Not only because it will protect the natural beauty and native American artwork found in Gold Butte, but also as a way to allow continued growth of communities from Las Vegas and Henderson to Mesquite." Local leaders and stakeholders were shocked at this. MVTAB Chairwoman reported that she had spoken to County Commissioner Tom Collins about the County's role in the legislation. Collins had clarified that the Commission fully supported the Mesquite Land Bill which had been proposed earlier this year. But the conservation element including Gold Butte had been attached later. "He told me that the County had not given support to the Gold Butte element," Metz said. "I'm willing to give that the benefit of the doubt and assume that the county was blindsided by this whole thing as well." "This is nothing more than a sniveling political ploy," Metz continued. "It was Senator (Harry) Reid (D-Nev.) who first suggested this conservation element and now Shelley, who doesn't even have a stake in this because its not in her area, introduces the bill. I just have to add one and one and get two on this. It seems like more election year politics to me." Metz said that the bill's introduction of thousands of acres of restricted wilderness area was exactly what the adjacent communities were most concerned about. "We gave our input clearly that we were most concerned about being locked out of the land," Metz said. "Now they have turned around and hit us square in the head completely ignoring our most serious concern. "This is politics at its very worst," said Elise McAllister, Administrator for Partners in Conservation (PIC). PIC was called early on to help the local Town Boards in framing the issues on Gold Butte. "It is practically unheard of for a legislator to introduce legislation about public land outside their district," continued McAllister. "But Berkley is arrogantly pursuing this course of action. What's more, this bill has been introduced during the economy crisis, apparently hoping to get this legislation snuck through while we are worrying about other matters. It appears the strategy is to get this bill fast-tracked through the process and passed before we know about it." McAllister felt that the bill also indicated an effort by environmental groups to end-run the public process. "The groups pushing for Gold Butte to be an NCA/Wilderness area have been lobbying Congress for a decade, but they have never bothered to hold public meetings and inform the public," McAllister said. "Now, after all of this, it seems like they are stabbing us in the back again." Porter expressed strong feelings that introduction of the bill was bypassing a fair and open public process. "Good public lands policy is based on an open and transparent public process," Porter said. "While we all agree that Gold Butte needs additional protection, the introduction of legislation without the opportunity for my constituents to give their input is irresponsible." Click here to contact elected representatives! TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! Comment on this story. 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