Nye resolution seeks to reduce Basin and Range

A resolution adopted by Nye County commissioners seeks to reduce the size of the Basin and Range National Monument to 10,000 acres.

A joint resolution by Lincoln and Nye county commissioners is requesting to reduce the size of the 704,000-acre Basin and Range National Monument designated by President Barack Obama in July 2015.

“These elected boards for both Lincoln and Nye County respectfully request that this monument be reduced to a more manageable and reasonable area of 10,000 acres in total,” according to the resolution that was adopted on Oct. 17.

Nye County Commission Chairman Dan Schinhofen, who brought up the resolution, said before Basin and Range was designated in 2015, both Nye and Lincoln Counties submitted letters stating their opposition to the proposed monument.

“Taking 700K acres to protect a few hundred acres of private land is not in the public interest,” Schinhofen said in an email. “I spoke with some board members from Lincoln County and brought forward this resolution to rescind the footprint down to about 10K acres as defined by the Lincoln County board.”

The proposed 10,000-acre area would include a private art installation “The City” by Michael Heizer, that’s located within the boundaries of Basin and Range, according to the resolution.

The 10,000-acre area also shall include a few other sites identified by Lincoln County commissioners that “actually have historical or cultural significance,” according to the documents.

According to the resolution, Lincoln and Nye counties will be responsible to help aid in services for their area, placing burdens on their already small budgets.

The document also states that the addition of these lands also impacted the Department of Interior’s budget, as well as affected the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s ability to oversee these lands.

The land at the Basin and Range National Monument is currently preserved under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The measure gives the president the authority to designate public lands as national monuments without congressional approval. Such designations protect areas from mining, grazing and oil production.

No changes in sight

On a federal level, no changes are in sight for the Basin and Range National Monument.

Basin and Range and Gold Butte National Monument were the two Nevada monuments on a list of 27 national monuments that had been ordered for federal review by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who was charged with reviewing the monuments to determine whether they should be rescinded or scaled back, so far spared Basin and Range from any changes.

Schinhofen said that Nye County officials hope Zinke will consider taking “a second look” at Basin and Range.

“While we all love National Parks, the use of the antiquities act to move these lands into monument status was just wrong,” Schinhofen said. “We hope that the interior secretary will consider taking a second look at this as both local boards, elected by their counties, oppose this designation.”

The September memo meanwhile revealed that Zinke recommended unspecified reductions for Gold Butte in Clark County, along with five other national monuments including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah, Cascade Siskiyou in Oregon and two marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean.

Nye County officials had condemned Basin and Range National Monument upon its designation in 2015, while then-Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, welcomed the monument.

Upon designation, the 704,000-acre monument threw another obstacle into the Yucca Mountain project, as it partially blocked the U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed east-west Caliente rail route that would be used for nuclear waste shipments.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77