Guinn backs indefinite lockup of Nellis range

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 1998 | 11:05 a.m.

RENO -- Gov.-elect Kenny Guinn sent word to the Air Force Tuesday he supports permanently locking up 3 million acres of desert land for war games at the Nellis Air Force Range in Southern Nevada.

His first public policy statement since being elected puts him at odds with recreationalists, miners, environmentalists and military watchdog groups who want Congress to allow the Air Force to use the land for another 15 years, not forever.

While other public officials in Clark County support the continued operation of the Nellis range, including Guinn's election opponent Mayor Jan Jones, none suggested the land be withdrawn indefinitely for the Air Force.

The Air Force conducted the seventh and final public hearing Tuesday night on the draft of the legislative environmental impact statement. And it will prepare a final statement early in 1999. Congress in 1986 allowed the Air Force to use the range for 15 years.

The Air Force is suggesting Congress extend the deadline in 2001 for either 25 years or indefinitely.

Guinn's letter to the Air Force, read by J. J. Winters at the two-hour hearing, said the Nellis range has played an important part both in training military pilots and in the economy for Southern Nevada. "As governor-elect of the state of Nevada, one of my priorities will be to make sure the ranges at Nellis Air Force Base are renewed on a permanent basis.

"For the last 50 years, Nellis has been an integral part in the development of the state of Nevada. It has played a major role in the economics of many of our communities...," Guinn said. "The safety of America and the Free World depends on the continuous operation of Nellis and its ranges.

"I urge you to ask Congress for a permanent withdrawal of the ranges to allow this premier testing facility to remain as the one place we will have forever to train our fighting forces."

Statements also were read into the record from Mayor Jones, County Commission Chairman Yvonne Atkinson Gates and Manny Cortez, chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, all backing the Air Force but not advocating locking up the land forever.

The hearing also featured a walk-out by seven members of a group called Interfaith Action for Peace who complained they were muzzled by presiding officer Col. Pat Sweeney. He refused to allow the group members to put on a 17-minute play.

The members placed tape over their mouths to show they were not permitted to stage their skit and then walked out of the hearing to the applause of approximately 50 people who attended.

Other speakers at the hearing were nearly unanimous in saying Congress should allow withdrawal after 15 years so the use of the 3-million acres can be assessed with changing international conditions.

Lee Dazey of Citizen Alert said he was "concerned about future generations, and we could not support an indefinite withdrawal." She also urged the Air Force to reject any proposal by the Department of Energy to build a road across the range to haul high level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, a potential burial ground.

Dazey said Lincoln County favors locating an interim storage facility in its area and wants a road through the military range to transport the waste. "I hope Nellis will say 'no' to the Department of Energy on any route."

The 15-year limit for Air Force use was backed by Alan Coyner, administrator of the state Division of Minerals; Marjorie Sill of the Sierra Club; Grace Potorti of the Rural Alliance for Military Accountability and Tom Myers of Friends of Nevada Wilderness.

Nye County Commissioner Dick Carver, a leader in the fight against federal management of lands in Nevada, said the commission opposes any permanent withdrawal, and he wants some of the land released for mining.

With the passage of Indian gambling in California, Carver said the state's economy may have to depend more on its second major industry, mining. In opposing an indefinite withdrawal, Carver said "Times change and this should be temporary."

Potorti said "Public oversight would be cut off" if the Air Force was given permanent lock-up rights. "It's impossible for the military to know what weapons will be used in the future and the impact on these lands," she said.

Air Force officials said Nellis was the only area in the United States large enough to conduct major air maneuvers. Col. Bill Percival, commander of range management at Nellis, called it "one of a kind."

In the Gulf War, the Air Force was able to simulate the Iraq air defenses for training pilots. And that may have saved countless lives.

One suggestion being considered by the Air Force is to release 30,000 acres on the western border of the range that may have potential for mining.

And there could be co-uses, such as recreation and hiking, at such places at the Kawich Range in the northeast corner, Mud Lake in the northwest corner and EC South in the south part of the range.