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New maps available from Hollister Hills SVRA .......... Contact them below.

Hollister Hills SVRA, CA, web page
ALERT - Take Action NOW to Keep the Black Rock Desert Open for Public
Nevada's retiring US Senator, Richard Bryan, is pushing land lockup legislation through in these last days of the Congressional session, hoping action will occur without anyone noticing!!! His bill, S. 2273, would create a "Black Rock Desert & High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area" of about 815,000 acres in northwestern Nevada. The Senate "passed" the bill the evening of October 5, although S. 2273 was lumped in with 5 other bills, less than 20 Senators were present, and even then, it was just a VOICE vote of those 20 or so present to pass all 6 bills together. This is careful law making???
S. 2273 designates 757,500 acres as wilderness, even though BLM only recommended 302,365 acres for wilderness. S. 2273 has no maps to see exact wilderness boundaries. S. 2273 places a new preservation emphasis on this huge block of Nevada even though only 50,000 acres max is needed if you want to preserve a one mile wide corridor of the Lassen-Applegate Emigrant Trail, and the Trail is already listed as a National Historic Trail. About 18,000 acres of private land are within the NCA boundary. It's not hard to guess what happens when "preservation" is the emphasis instead of multiple use & ranching, hunting, mining, mechanized and motorized recreation, and active management of wildlife get restricted, piece by piece. The Governor of Nevada, the Nevada Association of Counties, various elected officials and state advisory boards, and numerous local, state, and national user groups OPPOSE this lockup bill because it is excessive and unjustified.
As the session winds down, attempts may be made to attach S. 2273 to an appropriations bill as a way to get the approps bill to the White House. Senate leadership, under veto threat, must decide which bills go to the President, and which do not. A package deal could be crafted at this late stage to include the bad bill S. 2273 along with good bills.
This is raw politics & policy making at its WORST & the ends justifies the means. YOU CAN HELP STOP ANY LAST MINUTE MANUVERING by calling the Senators listed below Thursday (10/26) and Friday (10/27). The message is short and sweet & OPPOSE any further action on S. 2273 and listen to Nevadans. Don't let S. 2273 be attached to any appropriations bill as a way to sneak it through. Don't let S. 2273 be used as the trading stock by the Senate leadership for other bills. Caution and restraint by Congress respects the wishes of Nevadans and others who have been shut out of this bill. Don't they deserve consideration?
- Capitol Switchboard to reach any Senator: 202-224-3121
- Senate Appropriations Committee: all numbers are 202 area code
- Chairman Ted Stevens 224-3004 email id.
- Ranking Member Robert Byrd 224-3954 email id.
- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott 224-3135 email id.
- Senate Asst. Maj. Leader Don Nickles 224-2708 email id.
- Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle 224-5556 email id.
- *** For NV residents, call Senator Harry Reid 702-474-0041 (LV) or 775-686-5770 (Reno)
- This alert is sponsored by PLAN, the Public Lands Access Network-High Desert Coalition. For more information contact Jim Linebaugh at 775-246-7930.
- THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

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