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Last Updated 02/23/2010
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By Keith Trout • News Editor, RGJ • March, 2008 A proposal to designate federal land in Lyon and Mineral counties (188,000 acres in Lyon County), as well as also parts of California and Douglas County, as wilderness has spurred some strong feelings, especially from those who oppose it. And as a result, a new coalition, based in Smith Valley, has been formed to oppose the wilerness plan. The "Coalition for Public Access", formed a few weeks ago after word of the wilderness designation came forth, is growing and planned to make a formal presentation at Wednesday's (March 5) Smith Valley Advisory Council meeting (see next week for report of that meeting), according to a spokesperson, Emery Thran of Smith Valley. A large crowd was expected for that meeting and it was moved into the Smith Valley High gymnasium to accommodate the crowd. Thran said he'd been told the groups supporting the wilderness effort, Nevada Wilderness Project and Friends of Nevada Wilderness, were invited to the meeting. However, he was also told they decided to "regroup" after a volatile meeting in Mineral County and might instead attend the April SVAC meeting. Thran said the group began as a group of Smith Valley ranchers and residents but it has expanded to include persons from Mason Valley, Douglas County and Mineral County. He said a database of over 200 persons has been established, only of those with emails, plus about 100 others have contacted them. The wilderness designation is being pursued as part of the Lyon County and Mineral County Lands Bill, which also is planned to provide a resolution of the myriad issues involving the waters of Walker River and Walker Lake. Copies of the Coalition's flyer have been placed in Yerington businesses along with forms people could sign in opposition to the wilderness designation. Thran, though, said his group isn't directly involved in that effort. The most recent lands designated as wilderness in the United States, in White Pine County, also came about as part of a lands bill. The Lyon County Lands Bill legislation to resolve the Walker Basin issues was initially announced last summer by U.S. Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign and Rep. Dean Heller. However, in a conference call with rural reporters last week, Heller said his "priority is not wilderness," but rather his priorities are public health and quality economic development/economic viability of Lyon County. He said he wouldn't support a bill that would "turn ranches or structures into wilderness." Thran said the coalition has representatives of 21 entities who use public lands involved with them, including those interested in bird watching and endangered species. He noted 80 people attended an initial meeting, advertised only by word of mouth. The National Wilderness Preservation System, which protects federally-managed land areas "of a pristine condition," was established by the Wilderness Act (Public Law 880-577) of 1964. The act originally created hundreds of wilderness zones within already federally- administered property, consisting of over 9 million acres. As of January 2008, a total of 702 separate wilderness areas had been created, consisting over 107 million acres. Wilderness lands are subject to specific management restrictions and human activities are generally restricted to non-motorized recreation (hiking, etc.), scientific research and other non-invasive activities. In general it prohibits logging, mining, roads, mechanized vehicles (including bicycles) and other forms of development. Wilderness areas allow existing grazing but Thran said grazing permit holders fear the designation would make it too expensive to maintain the grazing area, forcing them out and some horseback riders fear it could negatively impact them also. Thran said he loves the outdoors, whether by off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, backpacking, hunting or fishing, some of which wouldn't be hindered by the designation. However, he said he and others also fear the wilderness would hurt the livelihoods of people who have used the land for many generations. He also said they oppose the designation as it would prevent access to the public land for senior citizens and handicapped/disabled persons. Yerington resident Steve Pellegrini is a supporter of the wilderness designation and he submitted a letter to the editor this week. He wrote that he saw "fear driving" arguments and fueling passions regarding the issue. He also countered statements that only outsiders were involved, saying some locals "believe, once the facts are examined, this would be a healthy move for our community." Later Pellegrini wrote the wilderness designation "an opportunity to secure some of the traditions that are uniquely ours. It provides an opportunity to set aside a few areas where we can show future generations what this place looked like when we were growing up here." |
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