Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

letter to the editor:

Act on Tule Springs bill

As the Las Vegas Sun reported, on July 30, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed a package of Northern Nevada lands bills, one of which is known as the Yerington Mining bill. These bills have bipartisan support from the entire Nevada delegation and were previously held up by the House committee leadership.

We applaud Congressmen Horsford and Amodei for their ability to work out the differences with House leadership. Now it’s time to see that Southern Nevada lands legislation gets through this committee for passage during this Congress.

Unfortunately, the Las Vegas Valley Public Lands and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument bill, HR2015, has languished since last year. In October 2013, the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce gave glowing testimony before a congressional subcommittee. What they pointed out is that this legislation has overwhelming bipartisan support. Indeed, all four of Nevada’s congressional members testified at that hearing and noted the far-reaching community support for this bill. So what has happened?

Nothing. Despite all the work our congressional delegation is doing to get this legislation passed, it appears this bill is stuck. As has been noted in supportive editorials last fall, this bill is a balanced preservation and economic package that makes sense.

When Congress returns in September, we hope to see this legislation pass through the House committee and pass on both floors of the House and Senate. It’s time.

Jill DeStefano, North Las Vegas

The writer is president of Protectors of Tule Springs.

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