N. Nevada land bill couples development, scenic wilderness
By Steve Tetreault, Las Vegas Review Journal
WASHINGTON — A Nevada bill submitted to Congress on Thursday would realign federal lands in Douglas County, opening some for development while creating a 12,330-acre scenic wilderness.
The measure would designate the Burbank Canyons Wilderness in the Pine Nut Mountains northwest of Wellington. The area of three deep scenic canyons is prized by conservationists for an abundance of sagebrush, pinyon pine and juniper.
Sixty-seven acres would be given to the state of Nevada to add to Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, while 1,000 acres would be put into trust for the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada.
Corruption? This doesn’t pass the smell test when Harry Reid’s name is part of it, this looks like a trick to develop land in exchange for locking the public out of other lands, Nevada and the Congress should reject this scheme to do something that isn’t needed.
More theft of “public” land by the federal government. Taking it from riders and hunters who actually USE and enjoy the land, for WHAT? Those people who are doing this have never been there. What is the point? Pure GREED on the part of the Feds.
Bull pucky!
If Harry Reid’s name is even close it is NOT in anyone’s best interest but HIS. He is the poster child for corruption, along with the circus of clowns in Washington.
Dog: Yup. “scenic wilderness?” Sounds like greedy environmentalists at their best!
Riders have little respect for sensitive areas. Go to the aspen grove on the north side of Virginia peak near the water tank. Almost every tree has been carved on multiple times, shot, generally abused. I think the people who care about nature can have 3 canyons protected and the average destruction can continue everywhere else and we can all be adults about it. The sad reality is that if you want to prevent abject destruction in sensitive areas you have to keep the OHV community away from it.
Reid and his arrested brother are both BAD news and anything the Senator is trying to do should be an immediate rejection in Congress. The GOP just won Congress and if they want to be corrupt like the Dems and include Harry it is time for a third party.
“Reid and his arrested brother”
Well then Justice, be sure not to vote for Jeb Bush! Because if you hold one brother responsible for another brothers actions, Jeb’s bro, George W, was arrested for a DUI as well! Oh yeah, and old George W DIDN’T disclose that tidbit when being vetted for his candidacy as POTUS. Which had he been applying for a gaming license in the state of Nevada and not disclosed that little fact, he would have been automatically declined for that license. AND George W was ALSO a cokehead!
Blank Picture; I am no fan of the Bushes for the most part, as most conservatives reject them from a long time ago in the 1980’s. The thing about Reid is he has already been suspect as a Senator in land swindles and corruption and his brother’s recent arrest is not old news like the Bush family. Jeb Bush has little support outside of a small circle of wealthy donors. The Conservatives are backing Governor Walker for now.
“Blank Picture”
Justice, although off-topic, why is it that you feel the need to belittle the avatar name of a person making a comment that contradicts your viewpoint? I know there are a few that might be of a like mind to me that are as disrespectful as you and and few others of your viewpoint when it comes to counter arguments, but what gives you, or them, the justification to show disrespect to some of us who aren’t disrespectful to those with opposing views in our comments? Do you, and those of opposing views to you, that use that snarky, snide approach to debate truly believe that helps your, or their arguments?
“The sad reality is that if you want to prevent abject destruction in sensitive areas you have to keep the OHV community away from it.”
So instead, we should give it to the environmentalists, who will neglect to thin and clean the forests, and when the whole damn wilderness burns down because of it, they will find a way to blame the conservatives and the OHV community.
“Riders have little respect for sensitive areas” Of course, you must have first person experience on this one. NOT! I ride all the time and 99% of the people out there are very responsible, they stick to the roads and don’t harm the environment.
Unfortunately, the other 1% seems pretty careless.
Duke, you are taking the wrong approach here! The answer is ride responsibly, not eliminate riding completely.
Riding prevents the fire roads from being overgrown, allows people to report environmental and other issues quickly, and allows access to amazing scenery and historical sites that would otherwise be very difficult to see. And it’s loads of fun, and a large part of Nevada’s economy. Plus, most of the dirt roads out there have SERIOUS uses, and are not going away any time soon, so there is really no reason the OHV community shouldn’t be allowed to use them.
Nevada is even considering requiring Nevada registrations to ride for everyone, including people registered in other states, because so many riders come from far away to ride there. Nevada has exceptional OHV opportunities, let’s not ruin them people!
Environmentalists, don’t jump to conclusions and eliminate this amazing recreational opportunity, and OHV enthusiasts, please ride responsibly!
duke – Go to the aspen grove off the Rainbow Trail near the Taylor Creek Visitor’s Center. Almost every tree has been carved on multiple times. Go to Star Lake to see many trees hacked apart for firewood, trash left behind, and feces and toilet paper improperly disposed of. Go to Desolation to see illegal campfires and illegal campsites, trash left behind, and even more feces and toilet paper improperly disposed of. Go to any popular walking trail to see bags of dog poop left for the poop fairy to take away, and more carving on trees. Go to any sledding hill to find discarded plastic sleds and pieces of sleds. Go to any beach to see cigarette butts, beer cans, diapers, and other trash.
People abuse the outdoors no matter their mode of transportation or user group affiliation. If you think this justifies closing public land to certain user groups, then it should be closed to all user groups.
Why do you assume that “people who care about nature” only walk there? Do those who drive to Tahoe not care about nature? Are the paved roads throughout the region less damaging than the dirt ones? If you think so, maybe we should better pave Northern Nevada, and close off the rest.
BTW, both California and Nevada already have millions of acres of Wilderness: http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/chartResults?chartType=AcreageByStateMost so it’s not just about 3 canyons.
It would be nice if we knew where the approximately fifteen square miles of development would take place in Douglas County.
Well said, Duke. Riders have great respect for the land…yeah, right. Go back a few days to the snowmobilers’ comments on how they’re entitled to ride over the dirt. It didn’t take long for the OHV community to backpedal.
Blue Jeans: About the only thing there is for snowmobilers to ride over is dirt. Most people who own their own snowmobiles haven’t even used them this year. But the rental businesses have to run their machines or they will go under, and the tourists think it is fun to ride on the dirt. Blame them, not the rest of us.
The bottom line is environmentalists tend to abuse the land as much if not more than the OHV community. read Butters comment.
All environmentalists want is more land. They already have about 23 times as much land at Tahoe as the OHV community. But they tell us we need to share, and that’s not enough for them. Give us the remote places that hikers and environmentalists can’t reach anyway.
And stop blaming a fun sport for environmental problems. I went to some historical sites out in the pine nuts and it seems it was the environmentalists that destroyed them with graffiti.
I have ridden for yeas and never spilt a drop of gas or oil, left a single piece of trash, or ridden off a trail. There are thousands of others like me.
All of you people ranting on the OHV community, you should come look for yourself before you start pointing fingers.
Making any new area a sudden “wilderness” is not only uncalled for as there are plenty of areas called new wilderness, even with old roads on them now. It is usually something that liberal Senators and Presidents do for their “legacy” by putting their name on it and locking out 90% of people and restricting the use, but in this case it is a development proposal and a bait and switch which is not only fishy, it is as ripe as a sewer plant.
“The bottom line is environmentalists tend to abuse the land as much if not more than the OHV community.”
Wow.
” I went to some historical sites out in the pine nuts and it seems it was the environmentalists that destroyed them with graffiti.”
Really…
I’ve seen tree carvings all over the place, none of them are acceptable. What I have seen near OHV areas is tree abuse on a completely different level. Who else is bringing shotguns and boxes of shells on a 5 mile hike up a mountain to shoot up trees? If that aspen stand wasn’t right near a popular OHV route it would be in better shape.
There are plenty of areas that are already open to OHVs and torn up. Why is it such a big deal to identify a few special, sensitive areas, and keep the source of the most intense destruction away from them? There are dozens of areas where people can go shoot trees, have a large network of single track trails to tear up. Areas so torn up that you really won’t notice another few slugs in the trunks or debris.
Partying, drinking, and being loud is great fun. It isn’t for everyone. And we have areas for these people to go nuts and their impact of everyone else is minimal. We don’t allow bars to be established next to retirement communities… its the same concept with OHVs.
People who want peace and quite and don’t like to see trees riddled with bullet holes have their canyons and trials. And the remaining vast majority of the area is sacrificed for the enjoyment of the OHV group.
How many acres is the OHV area, and what percentage does this 3000 acres represent? Some of you are acting like you are losing access to an entire county.
duke: It’s not 3,000 acres, it’s 12,330 acres in addition to millions of others.
You are clearly frustrated by shooters and partiers, not by all OHV enthusiasts. A logical person such as yourself should understand the difference.
How did you get to the site you describe? Sounds like it’s far from Tahoe so is it safe to assume you drove? Was the road dirt or was it paved? If it was dirt, then you, too, are an OHVer! If it was paved, then how are the tons upon tons of asphalt used to build that road somehow better for the environment than a dirt road?
Duke: Next time your are making observations about environmental destruction by OHVs, consider going past the trailhead.
You have seen tree carvings all over the place? Of course they’re not acceptable, but could you please tell me where this is, as I am unfamiliar with such a place. A “few, special, sensitive areas?” These canyons they are talking about are some of the best OHV areas around. Sensitive? Are you kidding me? Rocks, pinyon pines, and sagebrush is all that’s out there, but you act like it is a stream zone or a wildlife refuge!
The trails are “torn up?” the majority of the OHV community that I have seen uses regular graded dirt roads that have a real purpose. There are mining and logging operations that tear the roads up more than OHVs. Maybe things would be different if the BLM’s grade in budget didn’t get cut by 60%.
“Partying, drinking, and being loud?” I have never seen any OHVers doing that. It really isn’t for anyone.
Why do the environmentalists always take the best for themselves? Take the areas that don’t have good trails anyway.
YIPPEE Its a finger pointers festival, all comments predictable, all talking points foxnoise approved. Same ol dribble, same ol, same ol..
Wow , Nature, kinda cool that Fox news ran some articles about this bill, enough that everyone can quote on it. Just because someone doesn’t agree with your world view doesn’t mean that it is something that has been run on fox news
Yep. Same old dribble, predictable. The self-righteous greenies are dead certain that the OHV people are EVIL destroyers of land and trees, while the hikers would never deface a living plant by carving into it, or burning down the forest with a neglected campfire. Even though the evidence is everywhere there are hiking trails that there are just as many knuckleheads in THEIR ranks as in any other.
Yeah. It’s Fox News’ fault.
Dito, Dogula. Some people just never make the connection…
Nature: I tried this:
https://www.laketahoenews.net/2015/02/n-nevada-land-bill-couples-development-scenic-wilderness/#comment-265500/commenter/Nature_Bats_Last/brain
And got this:
Error 404: “brain” does not exist.
Even the computer agrees…
OHHHH, sticks and stones……my poor feelings are hurt, Ohhhhhh
Yes I was a passenger in a modified RZR on Ophir grade. It was a blast. The only people who go up there drive. Hence the very real connection between OHV and shooting shotguns are trees. A lot of the marks were still green. What kind of person comes across a rare plant community and trashes it?
Dawg knock it off with the taking peoples thoughts out of context. That all you have, it fails every time, and make you come off as a moron. There is a connection between OHV use and needless destruction. A few of them cause a lot of destruction. Read what I wrote, I carefully did not demonize the entire community. The OHV community has a few bad apples that cause a lot of problems. They come along with the rest of you. Either you figure out how to mitigate their impact or risk losing access to areas because there is no other option than absolute bans if we want to protect sensitive areas.
And your thought about hikers burning down forests is silly because those people don’t set out to burn down a forest with a campfire. The OHV people put their shotguns in the trunk, load them up and aim the at trees. Big difference. Where humans go, some amount of destruction follows. But the level of destruction associated with OHVs is unacceptable in some areas.
“I was a passenger in a modified RZR on Ophir grade. It was a blast” Hopefully you can now see why people don’t want to get rid of this amazing sport.
“The OHV community has a few bad apples that cause a lot of problems” Finally some sense on this blog! Sincere thanks for not being a bigot like the rest of the liberals on this site. The answer to this is ride responsibly, not eliminate riding. There are BLM rangers that ride around out there in RZRs. Why don’t we get a few more of them to patrol the popular “tree shooting” spots, and write tickets for shooting trees, etc.
Also, some of the shooters leave lots of cans and bottles lying around after they shoot, and don’t bother to pick them up when they leave because it’s too much trouble. How about a few trash barrels to make it easier for people to clean up after themselves. Just stick some 55 gal drums out there and empty them once or twice a year.
I am not opposed to protecting the environment, but I can’t agree with the radical approaches taken by some liberals.