Federal lands bill advances Nevada projects
WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a giant federal lands bill Thursday that advances a handful of Nevada projects that were stalled in Congress last year including the study of historical Cold War landmarks.
The bill was hailed by sponsors as the most sweeping conservation measure the Senate has undertaken in years, combining more than 160 individual bills that had been left over from its previous session.
The umbrella bill would set aside 2 million acres of protected wilderness in nine states, and add more than 1,000 miles to the system of wild and scenic rivers.
The overall package became noteworthy both for its size and because it sparked a protest by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who had blocked a number of the bills last year.
It passed 73-21, and was sent to the House for further action.
The bill calls for a study of sites that played a role in the Cold War for possible inclusion in the government's inventory of historically significant landmarks.
The bill was inspired in part by efforts of Southern Nevadan Steve Ririe, who has researched and documented the site atop Mount Charleston where a C-54 transport plane crashed in 1955 on a secret flight to Area 51 along the dry Groom Lake bed near the Nevada Test Site.
While the lands legislation doesn't specifically mention the classified Area 51 installation, it lists among the Cold War historical sites nationwide to be studied some "flight training centers" and "strategic and tactical aircraft" in addition to the test site and intercontinental ballistic missiles sites.
The 14 scientists and military personnel who were killed in the 1955 crash were on their way to test the U-2 spy plane at Area 51.
Ririe was elated about the bill's progress, saying it would pave the way for funding construction of a Cold War memorial on Mount Charleston, an effort he has been pursuing with help from private backers.
"We see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said shortly after the measure passed. "This is for all those families of the men who died on the mountain and others who died covertly during the Cold War."
Among other Nevada elements, the package contains:
• A flood control bill that would release 65 acres along the foothills of Sunrise Mountain to be incorporated into the Orchard Detention Basin Project, a storm water basin being engineered by Clark County.
• An 80-acre land transfer in Summerlin, of which 24.4 acres would be granted by the Bureau of Land Management to the Nevada Cancer Institute for a campus and treatment center.
The remainder of the property at Alta Drive and Hualapai Way would be sold to the city of Las Vegas, which plans to have 16 acres developed for medical offices. The city also envisions a park and water pumping station at the site.
The lands legislation also would transfer 502 acres from the BLM to Henderson for development around the Henderson Executive Airport.
Testifying before the House last year, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said the proposed acquisition was an important part of the city's long-term economic plan.
Review-Journal writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report. Contact Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
