U.S. House to vote on Nevada land bills
RENO — After years of wrangling, a package of Northern Nevada land bills is scheduled for a vote Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One of the seven bills would allow the city of Yerington to develop federal land near a copper mine while setting aside a wilderness area. Another measure would help ranchers while establishing a wilderness area northwest of Winnemucca.
Other measures would allow federal land transfers or purchases to benefit Elko County, Carlin, Fernley and the Naval Air Station Fallon.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., who introduced six of the measures, said he is optimistic about their chances of passage and looks forward to President Barack Obama signing the legislation. If approved by the House, the legislation would first have to be passed by the Senate before it could be sent to Obama.
“After years of hard work, this bill is scheduled and ready to go,” Amodei said in a statement. “Yerington desperately needs an economic jolt, and this job-creating legislation will put Nevadans back to work.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., have introduced similar legislation to boost Yerington’s economy.
The bill would allow Yerington to buy from the federal government 10,000 acres surrounding Pumpkin Hollow, a copper mine being developed by Nevada Copper.
The proposed Wovoka Wilderness encompasses 48,000 acres in Lyon County south of Yerington that officials say is culturally significant to Native Americans.
Another measure would set aside 26,000 acres for the Pine Forest Range Wilderness northwest of Winnemucca and release for development 1,000 acres of existing wilderness study area lands.
The bill also would direct the federal Bureau of Land Management to exchange federal lands surrounding nearby ranches for private parcels within the existing wilderness study areas to help ranchers.
Yet another bill would allow Elko County and the Te-moak Tribe of Western Shoshone of Nevada to buy from the federal government 275 acres for a motocross, bicycle, off-highway vehicle or stock-car racing area.
Other measures would allow the cities of Carlin and Fernley to buy surrounding federal land for multi-use development.
