Thursday, July 5, 2018 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
View more of the Sun's opinion section
I was interested to read Yvonne Gonzalez’s June 20 story “County’s public lands wish list to Congress draws ire of recreation groups.”
I attended the open house held by the county. It was disappointing to review the maps made available. I did not attend the hearing on the county resolution because it seemed like a done deal. I was right.
They paint a pretty picture: additional wilderness areas and much needed additional land to the Moapa Paiute Reservation.
One thing that seemed out of whack was the 292,000 acres of land designated Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. The county wants to put that many acres into what I guess you’d call a future land development account. Yet they are only asking for 30,000 acres for development. If this happens, the county will be able to ask for development year after year until it has used up the 262,000 acres it will have banked. It wants to completely bypass the process in place.
What happens to the bighorn sheep when Hidden Valley is developed? The loss of this valley is breaking my heart.
