House votes to ensure Nellis operations within national monument

WASHINGTON — The House approved an amendment Thursday that seeks to ensure Air Force activities in central Nevada are not hampered by a 1,100-square-mile federally protected national monument area being weighed by the Obama administration.

Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., argued a draft proclamation leaked last week to create a Basin and Range National Monument does not fully preserve the ability of the military to conduct ground activities below the airspace of the Nellis Test and Training Range.

“My amendment is about protecting America’s national security, and that means ensuring that our military has guaranteed access to land located beneath or associated with military operations areas for essential training and readiness activities,” Hardy said as the House debated an annual defense policy bill.

The amendment said any national monument should not “prohibit or constrain any activities on or above the land conducted by the Department of Defense or other federal agencies for national security purposes.”

It passed by voice vote in a block of 15 other amendments to the bill.

During a short debate, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said the amendment was “completely unnecessary.” She said the administration already is working through access issues with the Air Force.

Titus, who supports a national monument designation, also said the amendment was written so broadly as to give the Department of Defense “a virtual veto” over conservation lands.

The White House is preparing documents for President Barack Obama’s signature designating 704,000 acres of Lincoln and Nye counties as a monument area withdrawn from most economic activity. Conservationists say the area of Garden Valley and Coal Valley separated by the Golden Gate Range is naturally unblemished while containing valuable archaeological artifacts.

Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Air Force stages exercises in which pilots are dropped into the region for survival training. Nellis Air Force Base personnel also conduct rescue training and maintain ground instruments beneath the air range.

An Air Force map of the proposed conservation area viewed by the Review-Journal shows a “Robin Drop Zone,” of roughly 1 by 2.5 kilometers in the south-central portion of the proposed protected area, as well as a half dozen markings for Air Force rights of way dotted in the southern part of the area.

The draft designation for the monument already contains provisions guarding the military’s use of airspace where the Air Force conducts Red Flag exercises and other training missions. The draft document is being circulated among federal agencies for comment before being finalized and presented to Obama for his signature. An Obama administration official said last week that any Air Force issues are expected to be addressed in a final proclamation.

“As has historically always been the case, for any national monument designation we work closely with the Department of Defense to protect national security interests,” said the official who did not want to be identified discussing an internal White House matter.

During debate, Titus said national monument areas in New Mexico and Arizona coexist alongside military ranges. Multiple sources said formal agreements have allowed airmen from Nellis to stage mock rescue exercises within the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

“The language in these things is usually fairly flexible for military use,” BLM director Neil Kornze said in an interview.

“There are many cases around the West where conservation units work in a very positive way with nearby military installations and the area is seen by the military as positive,” said Kornze, a Nevadan and former public lands adviser to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The potential military impact is one of the objections that Republicans have registered to the proposed national monument, along with concerns about restrictions on mining and energy exploration. They also have questioned the size of the proposed protected area, being created partly to preserve the scenic value of “City,” a massive earthen sculpture nearing completion.

Obama has the authority under federal Antiquities Act to set aside areas of “historic or scientific interest” as monument lands.

Contact Review-Journal Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.