FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 8, 2002

NEWS RELEASE

Date: Time: Place:

November 18, 2002 9:30 a.m. Legislative Building Room 4100 401 South Carson Street Carson City, Nevada videoconferenced to: Grant Sawyer State Office Building Room 4401 555 East Washington Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada

Contact:

Linda Eissmann, Committee Staff Director Legislative Committee on Public Lands Carson City, Nevada 89701-4747 (775) 684-6825

PUBLIC LANDS COMMITTEE TO MEET IN CARSON CITY

Senator Dean A. Rhoads (R-Tuscarora) is pleased to announce that Nevada’s Legislative Committee on Public Lands will hold its ninth meeting of the 2001-2002 Legislative Interim at the Legislative Building in Carson City on Monday, November 18, 2002, at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be videoconferenced to the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Room 4401, 555 East Washington Avenue in Las Vegas. An agenda is attached to this news release.

Senator Rhoads explained that the meeting would begin with an overview of the Committee’s activities in Washington, D.C., on September 18 and 19, 2002. The Committee will then receive several briefings, including an update on the “Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002” (signed by the President on November 7, 2002), an overview of the most recent meeting of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, a report of wind energy exploration and development in Nevada, and a report addressing the checkerboard land ownership pattern in Northern Nevada.

Finally, the Committee will engage in continued discussion and language development for a bill draft request regarding issuance of stockwater permits by the State Engineer. Stockwater permits refer to the use of water for watering livestock on the public range. “Protection of stockwater rights on public land is essential to all Nevadans, not just ranchers,” asserted Rhoads. “It’s an issue of who controls our water. We want to preserve Nevada’s primacy and our ability to manage our water resources.”

Rhoads further explained that federal regulations and a recent court decision have necessitated amendment of the State’s existing stockwater statute. “Development of a bill that provides a solid foundation from which to address the issue during the upcoming Legislative Session is an important task for this Committee and I am certain we can reach a consensus. It’s a difficult issue, but the Committee is dedicated to resolving it.”

The Public Lands Committee was created in 1983 as a permanent Committee of the Nevada Legislature. The purposes of the Committee are to review and comment on federal land management policies and practices, and to provide a forum for the discussion of public lands matters. The Federal Government manages almost 87 percent of the land in Nevada.

The other members of the Public Lands Committee are Senator Terry Care (D‑Las Vegas); Assemblyman Tom Collins (D‑Las Vegas); Assemblyman John W. Marvel (R-Battle Mountain); former Assemblyman P. M. “Roy” Neighbors (D‑Tonopah); and Assemblyman-elect Peter Goicoechea (R‑Eureka) (Eureka County Commissioner representative to the Committee)