150 



Another alternative for water rights language would be that 

 which was marked up last week from this Subcommittee on the El 

 Malpite National Monument in New Mexico. Since the Nevada En- 

 hancement Act, an El Malpite bill that had similar water rights 

 issues, similar language solutions could be used. There is also the 

 example of water rights language used in Nevada's National Parks 

 bill. 



Nevadans are not that concerned about exact water rights lan- 

 guage, as long as a compromise is reached in a timely manner to 

 facilitate the expedient passage of this bill. 



Nevadans want more U.S. Forest Service land put aside as an in- 

 vestment for future generations. Whereas the BLM's district offices 

 may dispose of public lands as they see fit, USFS-designated lands 

 remain intact, unless altered by Congress. 



We, in Nevada, trust you, as our Nation's leaders, as custodians 

 of our national heritage, to bank savings of resources for genera- 

 tions of Americans yet to come. It is for these reasons that we 

 Americans who live in Nevada also feel that all the forest lands in 

 the United States should be preserved as U.S. Forest Service lands 

 for all Americans to enjoy in generations to come. 



The prime lands must stay in the public hands throughout the 

 United States. We are assured that holding only under U.S. Forest 

 Service management. Transferring any of those lands to BLM, in- 

 cluding those acres of USFS lands to be transferred to BLM in the 

 proposed Interchange, allows that agency to dispose of the lands at 

 their district office's option. 



Please keep USFS lands intact. I urge you to unanimously pass 

 the Enlarged National Forest of Nevada Enhancement Act as expe- 

 diently as possible and to encourage its timely passage through 

 both legislative bodies. 



Thousands of Nevadans are counting on you and millions of 

 Americans are counting on you. 



Thank you. 



I have some testimony also for the Aerojet proposal. 



Senator Hecht. Thank you. I know that, but I have let you go 

 several minutes over your time. Rather than just read it, why not 

 just take a couple of minutes to summarize it. Your statement will 

 be a part of the record. 



Ms. Perry-Jones. Okay. 



Basically, I was testifying against the Nevada-Florida Land Ex- 

 change Authorization Act. Having been little publicized in Nevada, 

 as I stated, the more Nevadans I spoke to, the more vocal their in- 

 dignant replies had become. They didn't see it as a land exchange. 

 They didn't see Nevada's land being worth 12 times less than an 

 Everglades land. Although the Everglades is environmentally nec- 

 essary land in the United States, so is Nevada land. Where they 

 can go right in and use the arid Nevada land, they would have to 

 do some change on the wetlands in order to even use them. So this 

 also increases the value of Nevada's land. 



Problems with pumping water, asking for water rights, on an 

 issue where, in the West, it has triggered many battles before, 

 where they are asking to pump up to 2 million gallons a day of 

 pure, pleistocene aquifer water, and we have a real problem with 

 that in the arid West. We feel that the growth of the Las Vegas 



