LV-area sites called Cold War landmarks

Suzanne Stuglinksi

Thursday, July 24, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON-- The Nevada Test Site, an area of Mount Charleston and other sites that played a role in the Cold War could soon be considered national historic landmarks.

The Senate Energy Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow those designations. The bill, introduced in February by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., is now ready to go to the Senate floor. Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said Reid will try to attach the bill to other legislation now under consideration by the Senate, but did not know which one yet.

The bill allocates $300,000 for a "Cold War Advisory Committee" tasked with studying a Defense Department inventory of Cold War sites and resources to see which should included in the National Park System as national historical landmarks or with some other special federal designation. The bill sets a three-year time frame for the study once the law would be enacted.

"Perhaps no other state in the Union has played a more significant role than Nevada in winning the Cold War," Reid said at the bill's introduction, noting the contributions of the Nevada Test Site, the Naval Air Station in Fallon and the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base.

The nationwide study would cover intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons sites, flight training centers, manufacturing facilities, communications and command centers, defense radar networks and strategic and tactical aircraft.

The bill also requires the Interior Department to develop a book describing the Cold War and its heroes, Reid said.

During his floor speech in February, Reid singled out the Mount Charleston site of a 1955 plane crash as a prime example of the type of place that needs to be recognized. The crash killed 14 scientists and technical personnel who were headed to build a spy plane at the then-secret Area 51

"This is a good bill," Hafen said. "There's no reason it shouldn't go through. It's time we recognize these sites."

Hafen pointed out that at a hearing on the bill in May, Sue Masica, associate director of the National Park Service said the Interior Department supported the bill. Out of 2,342 national historic landmarks, five recognize the Cold War, and 17 of 76,000 on the National Register of Historic Places are related to the Cold War.

The Energy Department and the administration also expressed support for the bill.

Senate Energy Committee spokeswoman Marnie Funk said she was unsure if there was any strong opposition to the bill. She said no one objected to it during Wednesday's meeting, but noted that any senator could put a hold on the bill at any time.