Thursday, July 23, 2020 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
The Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge in the United States outside of Alaska, is in danger.
Over 800,000 acres of it has been slated to be used for Air Force training by Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, who snuck in an amendment authored by Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, without talking to Nevada’s congressional delegation.
The area is home to ancestral tribal lands and threatened species such as the bighorn sheep and desert tortoise. Furthermore, desert ecosystems are fragile and therefore are challenging to restore as it is.
We cannot allow this refuge to be taken away and destroyed. Fellow Nevadans, contact your senators and representatives, and urge them to oppose the Bishop amendment that would open up devastation on our natural resources. They need to tell Smith to take down the amendment before it goes up for a vote.
Editor’s note: Although the House passed a bill that would protect the refuge, Congress has yet to pass a final version of the defense budget.
