54 



Senator Hecht. Now we have our witness list, and we will start 

 with my colleague, the Honorable Harry Reid. 



STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY REID, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 



STATE OF NEVADA 



Senator Reid. Thank you very much. Senator Hecht. 



Through you, I certainly would like you to express to Senator 

 Bumpers my appreciation for holding this hearing, which has been 

 wanted by many people for a long time. 



I appreciate personally the opportunity to testify about S. 854, 

 the Nevada-Florida Land Exchange Authorization Act, and S. 59, 

 the National Forests and Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement 

 Act of 1987. 



I have joined with you in the introduction of both these bills. 



The Nevada-Florida Land Exchange Authorization Act will allow 

 Aerojet General to acquire 51,710 acres of Bureau of Land Manage- 

 ment land in Nevada in exchange for approximately 4,660 acres of 

 Aerojet-owned land in Dade County, Florida, near the Everglades. 



The Interior Department would then sell the Florida land to the 

 South Florida Management District to raise funds for acquiring ad- 

 ditional wildlife refuge lands in the State of Florida. 



In Nevada, the legislation includes approximately 8,900 acres of 

 land in Mineral County, 25 miles southeast of Hawthorne, adjacent 

 to the Garfield Flat test site, already owned by Aerojet. The larger 

 42,800 acre portion is located in Clark and Lincoln Counties, in the 

 Coyote Springs Valley, 45 miles northeast of Las Vegas and about 

 100 miles southwest of Caliente. 



Aerojet wants to acquire the Nevada BLM land to construct a 

 rocket manufacturing, assembly and test facility. 



Since 1955, Aerojet has operated a 13,500 acre manufacturing fa- 

 cility for solid rocket motors 20 miles east of Sacramento, which 

 employs 4,200 people. The Nevada land will supplement the compa- 

 ny's rocket testing operations. It is anticipated that the facility will 

 initially employ 200 people with the potential of providing jobs for 

 many more people in the future. 



Mr. Chairman, you being from Nevada are aware that the land 

 exchange proposal enjoys widespread and strong support, including 

 the endorsement of the governor, the assembly, the residents of 

 Lincoln County, as well as the Southern Nevada Development Au- 

 thority. 



However, there have been some concerns raised about the impact 

 of the company's presence on water, existing minerals, and native 

 plants and animals, as well as the appraised value of the Nevada 

 land. 



These hearings and the ones which I will conduct in Nevada on 

 August 13, will help Congress evaluate the concerns that have been 

 raised by these various groups and people. 



During the past few years, I have worked with Aerojet in the 

 company's efforts to facilitate the exchange. In my mind, Aerojet 

 has worked to resolve many of the concerns that have been raised. 

 For example, Aerojet is setting aside about 18,000 acres of the 

 Coyote Springs Valley land for a period of 20 years as a conserva- 

 tion area. 



