FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 5, 2002

NEWS RELEASE

Date: Time: Place:

August 16, 2002 9 a.m. Elko Convention Center and Visitors Authority, Gold Room 700 Moren Way Elko, 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 ELKO

Senator Dean A. Rhoads (R-Tuscarora) is pleased to announce that Nevada’s Legislative Committee on Public Lands will hold its final meeting and work session of the 2001‑2002 Legislative Interim at the Elko Convention Center and Visitors Authority, Gold Room, in Elko on Friday, August 16, 2002, at 9 a.m. An agenda is attached to this news release.

According to Senator Rhoads, the Public Lands Committee was created in 1983, as a permanent Committee of the Nevada Legislature. Its purposes 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 Committee holds meetings throughout Nevada during the interim period between sessions of the Nevada Legislature, and looks to local governments and residents to provide information that may be used for future legislation or other legislative actions.

“Every county in Nevada has an interest in the use and management of our public lands,” Rhoads said. “The Legislature’s Public Lands Committee wants to know how we might provide assistance or support to our local governments to address concerns and opportunities relative to the public lands in this state.” Typical public lands topics may address grazing, mining, public access, recreation, and a variety of natural resource and land use topics.

The meeting will begin with several briefings about public lands issues of interest to residents in northeastern Nevada, followed by discussions about specific measures enacted by Congress. “Congress passed measures that allow for the sale of certain public lands in Nevada, and for the money to be used to purchase and protect environmentally sensitive lands,” Rhoads explained. “The first measure was the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act and the second was the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act. Both measures are very important to Nevada, and give us opportunities to get public land in private ownership. We are concerned, however, that when environmentally sensitive lands are purchased in rural counties, the amount of private land is not adversely reduced through these transactions.”

The Committee will also receive a briefing regarding an upcoming bond question that will appear on the ballot in the November 2002 election. The question will ask Nevada voters to support the issuance of General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $200 million to support various conservation and natural resource projects throughout Nevada. The money would be divided among the State Divisions of Lands, Parks, and Wildlife for improvements to the state’s natural resources and facilities that serve the public, and among local governments for locally sponsored conservation projects.

Also on the Committee’s agenda are discussions concerning the issuance of permits and licenses to backcountry guides and outfitters.

Finally, Committee members will consider a list of possible actions, developed over the last year during its meetings and tours. The actions range from possible legislation to be considered during the next Legislative Session in 2003, to letters the Committee might send to federal agencies and others urging them to take certain actions or informing them about certain issues. “We’ve heard a long list of issues during this interim period about the use and management of Nevada’s public lands” Rhoads explained. “At this meeting, we will look at our list of suggestions and recommendations, and decide what to pursue. This is our last meeting until we begin our work again in September 2003. Public input is as important now as it was at our first meeting.”

The other members of Nevada’s Legislative Committee on Public Lands are Senator Terry Care (D‑Las Vegas); Assemblyman Tom Collins (D‑Las Vegas); Assemblyman John W. Marvel, Vice Chairman (R‑Battle Mountain); Assemblyman P. M. “Roy” Neighbors (D‑Tonopah); and Eureka County Commissioner Peter J. Goicoechea.