Bush environmental policies touted in speech at Red Rock

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.

Using Red Rock Canyon as a backdrop, an Interior Department official stated a case for the Bush administration's policy on environmental issues in the West.

During her appearance Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rebecca Watson highlighted $5.2 million in President Bush's budget that is earmarked for developing land for recreational uses.

Watson also talked up the administration's efforts in improving access to public lands and in building public-private partnerships. But several Nevada officials, including its senior senator, said Bush is not budgeting enough money to take care of the Silver State's needs.

The $5.2 million is a portion of $1.7 billion allocated to the Bureau of Land Management, and it will be divided among all the states, with $500,000 of it going to Northern Nevada projects.

But Watson said Bush's budget is as strong as can be expected given the uncertain economy. The budget, released Monday in Washington, would increase BLM funding by $42.8 million in fiscal 2004 compared with fiscal 2003, Watson said.

"This is a time of great challenge in our country," Watson said. "We are faced with a war on Iraq. We are building up a new office for homeland security. I don't think that anyone who faces these problems will say it's not enough."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it's not enough.

"To accomplish the goals set in his budget would take vastly more money," Reid said Tuesday. "For example, Red Rock Canyon alone requires more than $5.2 million to exist as the recreation area it is today.'

Watson touted volunteer groups such as the National Wild Horse Association, Friends of Red Rock Canyon and the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association as examples of vital partnerships between private groups and the federal government.

"The administration believes that stewardship of the land begins at the local level," Watson said.

Evan Blythin, chairman of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, said he does see a willingness by Nevadans to do their part, but he added that more support is needed from the federal government.

"I do believe Nevadans in general really love this canyon and I think that the recent fights that have occurred over development really show their love for it," Blythin said. "It's just unfortunate that our federal representatives don't support (the upkeep of federal lands) the same way they do our entrepreneurial businesses. It's pretty priceless what we have here."

Watson said the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, passed by Congress last year, has helped secure more land for both environmental protection and growth in Southern Nevada.

The act protects 444,000 acres in Clark County as wilderness. It also allows the BLM to sell public land within a specified area of Las Vegas and use a portion of the revenue to acquire environmentally sensitive land.

The BLM's goal of balancing growth and environmental protection was tested in the past year when owners of land on Blue Diamond Hill wanted to build an 8,400-home development that abutted Red Rock Canyon.

The development had residents and conservationists trying to block county approval because the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area surrounded the proposed development.

At one time it was hoped the BLM would acquire the land, or perhaps swap it out so it could expand the conservation area, but James Hardie Gypsum, owner of the Blue Diamond Hill land, has refused to sell the land for the purposes of environmental protection.

A local BLM official said a proposed swap is now out of the question.

"We will no longer look for an exchange of land," said Mark Morse, BLM field manager in Las Vegas. "We have a buy-and-sell philosophy. If anything, we would purchase the land."