Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
As a sportsman living in Nevada, I rely heavily on public lands to pursue my passion.I appreciate the amount of work everyday citizens have put into protecting and restoring special places throughout our state.
One of these special places is the Desert National Wildlife Refuge that lies just north of Las Vegas. Originally established in 1936 to preserve desert bighorn habitat, and currently spanning more than 1.6 million acres, it is the largest national refuge outside of Alaska. Thanks to its designation, it still contains some of the best remaining bighorn habitat in Nevada.
In 1971, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended a portion of that acreage to be designated as wilderness and has managed the landscape as such for the past 50 years, even though this designation was never officially granted. Until Congress makes this designation permanent, this critical landscape is vulnerable to takeover by the Air Force, which controls over 2.9 million acres of public land within and adjacent to the refuge for military training.
In recent years — as recent as last year, in fact — the Nevada Test and Training Range has asked to be the primary manager of over a million acres of the desert refuge in order to expand its military training exercises. If the Air Force were to be granted that request, it would mean only a quarter of the original refuge would still be primarily managed for wildlife, its sole and singular purpose.
Every year, volunteers from conservation organizations hike out across Nevada to improve natural springs and build water catchment systems called guzzlers to benefit wildlife in the refuge. These systems collect seasonal rainwater and store it in underground tanks to provide wildlife with much-needed watering sources during dry months. These dedicated volunteers also assist federal and state agencies with essential research, including population estimates and disease detection. To accomplish these important tasks, modern technology is often needed, including vehicles and occasional helicopter use.
The terms wilderness and modern technology rarely appear in the same sentence. The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) addressed this and sat down to create a memorandum of understanding. This agreement permitted Nevada to continue wildlife management activities within newly designated BLM wilderness areas in the state.
The agreement authorizes maintenance of existing water developments in wilderness, as well as other management actions to protect wildlife and habitat in wilderness, where such activities are carried out in accordance with the Wilderness Act.
The agreement further states that development of new or additional water supplies may be permitted in the wilderness and the BLM shall authorize such structures if they enhance wilderness values by promoting healthy, viable and more naturally distributed wildlife populations.
It seems that a similar agreement could be written and implemented between NDOW and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.
It is time to designate portions of the refuse for wilderness protection and put an end to the perpetual negotiations between the Air Force and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Furthermore, it is paramount that provisions be made to allow wildlife agencies and conservation organizations, with their dedicated volunteers, to continue the noble traditions of improving Nevada’s habitat for wildlife.
Fortunately, various actions are in progress to accomplish this goal. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., has introduced a bill known as the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act. In addition to designating wilderness areas within the desert refuge, this legislation takes a step in trying to balance the demand for urban development and conservation in Southern Nevada.
At the state legislative level, Assemblywoman Cecilia Gonzalez has introduced a resolution calling for protections within the refuge as well as for large-scale conservation measures. Legislative actions like these will help ensure that public lands are open for generations to enjoy.
Kevin Cabble is a Las Vegas resident and has served as a volunteer board member for the Nevada Wildlife Federation for 25 years.
