Sierra ClubToiyabe Chapter

Presentation toNevada Lands Management Task Force

Hearing on AB22711/1/2013

David von Seggern, ChairToiyabe Chapter

(vonseg1@sbcglobal.net)

“Explore,Enjoy, and

Protect the Planet”

Sierra Club -- Toiyabe Chapter

• formed in mid-1960’s, part of national Sierra Club

• approximately 5,000 members in chapter

• all of Nevada + 3 eastern CA counties

• comprises 4 groups (Great Basin, Southern Nevada, Range of Light, Tahoe)

Our Conservation and Protection of Public Lands

Great Basin NP

MX Missiles

Yucca MountainBlack Rock NCA

Ruby Pipeline

Water ExportationCounty Lands Bills

Sage Grouse

Sierra Club Use of Public Land in Nevada

• about 250 outings scheduled in 2013 by our chapter (desert, forest, service, urban)

• about 15 overnight outings scheduled by CA chapters to Nevada in 2013

• about 30 trips by Great Basin Peaks Section (dedicated to Nevada’s highest and best)

• one national service trip in Nevada in 2013

Others Who Enjoy Free and Open Access to Public Land• hunters

• anglers

• birders

• petroglyphers

• photographers

• picnickers

• backpackers

• campers

• history buffs

• backcountry roaders

• mountain bikers

• climbers

• hikers

• kayakers

• swimmers

• boaters

• motorcyclists

• ATV’ers

• rock hounds

• star watchers

• wildlife viewers

• native Americans

Mission OutdoorsA Sierra Club campaign with Nevada components benefitting from public lands:

* GKO fundraiser by Great Basin Group, Sierra Club* Inner City Outings by S. Nevada Group, Sierra Club

• Great Basin Outdoor School (Reno)

• Sierra Nevada Journeys (Reno)

• Galena Park Visitor Center (Washoe Co.)

• Nevada Outdoor School (Winnemucca)

• Nevada Children’s Outdoors Bill of Rights (LV)

Other NV educational groups using public lands:

Agencies’ Programs for Kids Use Public Lands

(America’s Great Outdoors Initiative)

• More Kids in the Woods and Children’s Forests programs -- US Forest Service

• Take It Outside and Let’s Move Outside programs -- BLM (about 750 participants in Nevada in 2013)

The Task at Hand

AB227 is remarkably short and contains mostly boilerplate. The actual core of AB227 is Article 6, which, in only 244 words, provides direction to a Task Force to study the transfer of all federal land to the state by 6/30/2015.

“6.(a) An identification of the public lands to be transferred and the interests, rights and uses associated with those lands;”

• to be exact, the figure is now 81% of Nevada, not 87% (Dennis Myers, Reno News and Review, 4/10/2013)

• 1000‘s of leases, permits, ROW’s, etc. now under federal management

• what is to be transferred? -- national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, NTS, military bases, wilderness areas, national conservation areas, etc.

To be considered:

“6.(b) The development of a proposed plan for the administration, management and use of the public lands, including, without limitation, the designation of wilderness or other conservation areas or the sale, lease or other disposition of those lands;”

• hundreds of federal government employees now handling these matters in Nevada -- how to replace?

• thousands, likely millions, of pages of procedures, MOU’s, guidelines, management plans -- rewriting, updating, reissuing?

• akin to taking over a half-billion $ contract

Resources needed:

“6.(c) An economic analysis concerning the transfer of the public lands, including, without limitation:(1) The identification of the costs directly incident to the transfer of title of those lands;”

• property purchase or replacement (offices, facilities, motor vehicles, fire equipment, IT systems, etc.)

• easements, vested parties, restrictions, etc., -- a whole host of issues related to land transfers

Funds needed to handle:

“6.(c) An economic analysis concerning the transfer of the public lands, including, without limitation:(2) The identification of sources of revenue to pay for the administration and maintenance of those lands by the State of Nevada;”

• grazing fee increases?

• access fees for recreational activities?

• increases in hunting and angling permit fees?

• mining fee increases?

• recreational equipment taxes?

• state general fund?

• land sales?

“6.(c) An economic analysis concerning the transfer of the public lands, including, without limitation:(3) A determination of the amount of any revenue that is currently received by the State of Nevada or a political subdivision of this State in connection with those lands, including, without limitation, any payments made in lieu of taxes and mineral leases;”

In a study by the Congressional Research Service for Senator Simpson of Idaho in 2013, they found that, for Idaho, federal land agency annual appropriations were $321M and revenue was $28M.

As a business, the federal agencies could be judged a failure in Idaho, with cost/benefit ratio of $321M/$28M = 11.5. But this should be looked at as being services which the public wants. How will the state of Nevada, similar in profile to Idaho, meet these service demands?

• fire fighting

• maintenance and enhancement of recreation infrastructure

• enabling economic activity -- mining, grazing, energy production, etc.

• road and trail access

• many others

The Current Arrangement Works for Sierra Club

and Nevada• decades of adjustments, cooperation, and fine

tuning among agencies: local, state and federal

• Nevada benefits from a large investment by federal government

• federal management brings in resources beyond this state alone

• environmental protection is greater under federal control

• mechanisms exist for disposal to state and other entities already (e.g., Co. lands bills, SNPLMA -- open processes)

The Calamity of the State Trust Lands for Schools*

The State of Nevada was given about 4,000,000 acres of land in trust for schools by the federal government at statehood. Only about 3,000 acres remain in the trust!

Other states retained much more, for example:Montana -- 4.6M acresWyoming -- 3.0M acresIdaho -- 2.1M acres

Difficult to trace the benefit of these disposed lands to the school systems of Nevada.

* “What happened to them” by Dennis Myers in Reno News & Review, 6/18/2013

The Intangibles of Public Lands(not readily amenable to economic analysis)

• health and welfare of citizens

• spirit of the Old West

• scenic beauty values

• unfettered enjoyment of outdoors

• preservation of species

• clean air and water

Summary of Sierra Club Interest in AB227

• Adversely affects the ability of our members and members of other recreational groups to enjoy the “wild” lands of Nevada.

• Adversely affects our ability to effectively protect and conserve Nevada’s air, water, wildlife, and scenery.

• These public lands belong to all of U. S., not just to Nevada, per intent of statehood.

• We oppose a massive land transfer from federal to state/county governments as prescribed by AB227.

Summary -- continued

• We ask the Nevada Land Management Task Force to fairly treat the negative effects of the proposed land transfer in AB227.

• We ask the Nevada Land Management Task Force to look beyond AB227 to suggest practical means to work within the current federal-state structure to solve the many problems on our public lands.

References and SourcesReno News and Review expose on the loss of land trust acreage for schools in Nevada (printed 6/18/2013):http://www.newsreview.com/reno/PrintFriendly?oid=10668393

Reno News and Review on % of federal land in Nevada (printed 4/1/2010):http://www.newsreview.com/reno/PrintFriendly?oid=1397212

Center for American Progress describes the beneficial role of public lands in our energy transition:http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2012/06/25/11690/using-public-lands-for-the-public-good/

Bipartisan Policy Center advocates for parks and public lands as beneficial to the nation:http://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/2013/03/america%E2%80%99s-parks-and-public-lands-good-nation%E2%80%99s-health

Public Lands Foundation advocates for keeping our public lands:http://www.publicland.org/

Public Lands Every Day promotes educational opportunities on public land:http://www.publiclandseveryday.org/

The Trust for Public Land statement on economic and health benefits of public land:http://www.tpl.org/research/parks/economic-health-benefits.html

Center for American Progress Action Fund rebuttal to Mitt Romney's interview with RGJ editorial board on 2/3/2012:http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/03/418141/romney-public-lands/

Our Public Lands report on benefit of public lands to Nevada:http://www.ourpubliclands.org/public-lands-report-nv

The Trust for Public Lands report on economic benefits of public land:http://www.tpl.org/publications/books-reports/park-benefits/the-economic-benefits-of-land.html

Headwaters Economics article on the beneficial economic impact of federal lands on Nevada:http://headwaterseconomics.org/land/west-is-best-value-of-public-lands-nv

NACO website for Nevada Land Management (AB227) Task Force:http://nvnaco.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=28

Congressional Research Service Memorandum to Idaho Sen. Simpson on federal public lands appropriations to Idaho (dated 9/13/2013)http://www.idahoconservation.org/files/congressional-research-service-idaho-public-lands-memo/at_download/file

Utah looks at the cost of massive federal land transfer:http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56730800-90/utah-lands-public-transfer.html.csp

New Mexico, with 40% federal land, mulls takeover of it:http://www.capitolreportnewmexico.com/2013/09/should-nm-transfer-federal-lands-over-to-the-state/

A bill introduced in Congress (S. 1524: Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act of 2011) to bring land-sale revenue to states:https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1524/text

A bill introduced in Congress (H.R. 1965: Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act) to facilitate energy leasing on federal lands:https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1965/text