18 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHIC HECHT, A U.S. SENATOR 

 FROM THE STATE OF NEVADA 



Senator Hecht. My statement was for Senator Bumpers, and I 

 want to read it. But I want you to know that I am not talking to 

 myself. I am talking to Senator Bumpers. 



Mr. Chairman, I commend you for holding these hearings today 

 on two pieces of legislation that will greatly benefit the citizens of 

 Nevada. S. 59 and S. 854 both have the strong support of the entire 

 Nevada delegation. 



S. 59 transfers approximately 511,000 acres of Nevada's BLM 

 land to the Forest Service, and approximately 23,000 acres of land 

 from the Forest Service to the BLM. 



S. 59 is very similar to last year's Nevada Interchange Bill, 

 S. 2698. 



The advantage of S. 59 is that it will streamline and improve 

 public land management in Nevada, and also ultimately make 

 management less expensive for the taxpayers. The Interchange Bill 

 will smooth out some irregular boundaries between the Forest 

 Service and the BLM, but no sudden changes are anticipated in the 

 daily, on-the-ground management of any of these lands after they 

 are transferred. 



S. 854 will accomplish a land exchange between the U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service and Aerojet General Corporation. The Federal 

 Government will get several thousand acres of Aerojet-owned lands 

 in Florida, which will then be sold to the State of Florida. 



The proceeds will be used to buy additional land for the National 

 Wildlife Refuge System in Florida. In turn. Aerojet will receive a 

 large tract of BLM land in southern Nevada. 



S. 854 allows everyone to win. The Federal Government wins, the 

 State of Florida wins, the State of Nevada wins, and Aerojet Gener- 

 al wins. Perhaps most importantly of all, our Nation's ever-shrink- 

 ing and irreplaceable wetland resources and the wildlife they sup- 

 port come out a definite winner. 



Mr. Chairman, many Nevadans have been working hard for 

 more than two years on these bills. I am hopeful that this Commit- 

 tee will act quickly and report out both bills. 



Mr. Chairman, I have statements on S. 59 that I would like in- 

 serted into the record. They are from Governor Bryan of Nevada 

 and two co-chairmen of the National Forest Task Force of Nevada, 

 Spike Wilson and Sue Wagner. 



Regarding S. 854, I would like to insert into the record a letter 

 from Governor Bryan and a resolution from the Nevada legisla- 

 ture, both in strong support of this bill. I would also submit the 

 Governor's written testimony on S. 854 into the record. Statements 

 received by the subcommittee from Congressman Bilbray, Con- 

 gressman Fascell, and former U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt will also be 

 placed in the record at this point. 



[The material referred to follows:] 



