Reid opposes Guinn’s stance

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., today disagreed with Gov.-elect Kenny Guinn on permanently locking up 3 million acres used for war games at the Nellis Air Force Base training range in Southern Nevada.

Reid said, "I do not support a permanent withdrawal of lands. A periodic review is in the best interest of all Nevadans."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., declined to take an immediate position. Gibbons' spokesman, Jay Cranford, said the Congressman wants to speak with Guinn and Reid before deciding which way he will go.

Unless renewed by Congress, the Air Force's lease on the bombing range expires in 2001. The Air Force is proposing either a 25-year or an indefinite extension to use the land for training pilots in military maneuvers.

While praising the Air Force training, Reid said the state must "take care that we don't sacrifice some of the other unique aspects of Nevada as these bases expand and their missions change. I've long had the position that anytime the Air Force or Navy withdraws or utilizes additional air space, they should give control over the land or air space having equal value back to the citizens of Nevada."

One of the options being explored by the Air Force is to release 30,000 acres on the western border of the range -- lands that may have mining potential -- back to the Bureau of Land Management. It is also looking at allowing "co-use" in three small areas on the tip of the range for such things as recreation and hiking.

Guinn announced his support for the permanent withdrawal in a letter read Tuesday night at a public hearing conducted by the Air Force in Reno. He said, "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."

Guinn noted the economic value to Southern Nevada and added, "The safety of America and the Free World depends on the continuous operation of Nellis and its ranges."

Other public officials, including Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, Guinn's gubernatorial opponent, also sent their support, but none urged permanent lockup. And environmentalists, recreationalists, mining and military watchdog groups opposed indefinite withdrawal.

Marjorie Sill of the Sierra Club said, "Eventually we want the lands returned to the public. We have no idea what we will have in the future." She and others urged the land for the range be set aside for 15 years and there be a review every five years of its condition.

Tom Myers of Friends of Nevada Wilderness, said the land on the range is in "fairly good condition" because grazing and other uses are not permitted. And there is interest in looking at the wilderness potential when the area is returned to the public.

"I would like to see it in as good a condition as possible," Myers said, urging the Air Force to avoid building roads on the property.