173 



FMUMlcd 19M 



HONORARY UFE MEMBERS 



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AJberi "Sam' Angove 

 Spokane. Wutriniion 



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 BtfJIurd. Ntrw >ork 



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Miriun<r Sill 

 Reno, \c\ji1j 



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RtcMil Cengellv 

 Burns. Oregon 



James A. Cotbeti 

 Klondykc, Anuma 



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 Omver. Cuioiddu 



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 LnmnviUr, Nctrddj 



Dr Richard Bargcn 

 Gabtn. Nevada 



V\illuni Vlrineri 

 Book. Idaho 



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 Cunaiu. Aruuna 



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 K«no. F>rtrtada 



Rcncoe Poland 

 Sea Ranch. Califofnia 



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 Rirflro. Nrvada 



DrummunJ I'ikr 

 San Fiancixo. Calilorr^u 



Charin H Call-son 

 Omvrr, (.oluraJu 



Charhn H SiiXldacd 

 VlinunK. V%iM,un^in 



Paul Clitrord 

 Cleveland Heighd. Ohio 



Hartief Allen 

 San Diefo. Calitornia 



89702 



Testimony: Nevada/Florida 

 Land Exchange Authorizat- 

 ion Act of 1987/ S. 854. 



June 30, 1987 



NEVADA OUTDOOR RECREATION ASSOCIATION, INC. 



NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS TASK FORCE P.O. Box 1245 



SOLTHWEST WILOLANOS EDUCATIONAL INSTTTUTt ISOaA) CsrSOn CltV NCVadS 



MOimiMN BOCHIES »LM TASK FOUCE CNOllAI ci J. o >_. 1 1 i 1_ jr , iKfVOua 



Senator Dale Bumpers (Arkansas) 



Chairman 



Senate Energy & Public Lands Subcmte 



Dirksen Senate Office Building 



Washington, D.C. 20510 



Dear Senator Bumpers/Subcommittee members: 



This organization is regarded as the nation's oldest U .S. Bureau 

 of Land Manag ement ( BLM ) Public Lands environmental advocacy. 

 Founded in 1958, "NORA" fostered key provisions of a "mandate" 

 that eventually became the Federal Lands Policy & Management Act 

 (FLPMA). I co-authored the book " The Lands No One Knows " . which 

 played a role in enactment of the BLM Organic Act(FLPMA). 



The Nevada-Florida Land Exchange Authorization Act(S. 854) is not 

 so simple a Bill. We can tell you true horror stories about the 

 Curtis-Wright case(1961) and the Point Reyes Exchange(1969) • These 

 are still notorious examples of what led Congress to forbid inter- 

 state land exchanges in FLPMA in 1976. 



This Bill epitomizes the kind of "sweetheart" land deal that has 

 the ultimate goal of " privatization " of our Federal lands. A great 

 deal is more at stake than 42,800 acres of primeval Sonoran Desert 

 wildlands in the Caliente BLM Resource Area of SE Nevada. Docu- 

 ments provided by Aerojet may actually belie the rocket testing 

 aspect of this takeover. S. 854 is a "fast track" vehicle past our 

 major environmental and protective land laws. Most grievous is the 

 fact that this is a significant action affecting the environment. 



Illegal tactics by high Interior Dept. of f icials--to smash environ- 

 mental regulations- -are involved here. We know, first hand, of 

 telephone calls to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service field personnel 

 saying: "you're out of control; we don't want to hear about rare 

 species". We can document related incidents, including an attempt 

 to withdraw BLM lands without the required Section 7 Endangered 

 Species Act study. Later, FWS produced a " jeopardy opinion " that 

 depicted a threat to 14 Category I. and II species in the region . 

 This was quashed. A Sacramento Bee FOIA inquiry proved this in 1966. 

 Indeed, there was a FWS study showing that desert tortoises had 

 undergone a 50% die-off in the region in 1980-85. Instead of enact- 

 ing S. 854, what is needed is a Congressional investigation of Ass- 

 istant DOI Sec. Bill Horn and Federal FWS liaison Steve Robinson. 



Over the past 2 years we've seen a shell game played with offered 

 lands in Florida. It started with 12,000 acres of tomato farms 

 that were supposed to benefit Everglades National Park. A couple 

 shifts later, it became 4,600 acres of bone-dry brushlands. We 

 have investigated the latter. It has no critical wildlife habitat. 

 Of the two environmental analyses done by Aerojet (alone) , there is 

 no volume on the Florida offered lands. 



We have supported land exchanges. We helped realize enactment of 

 the Burton-Santini Act--wht,ch is now helping save environmentally 

 sensitive lands in the Nevada-Calif. Lake Tahoe Basin, (continued) 



• IN MEMORIAM ." 



tNORA Foundcnl 



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Richaril Holma 

 Fallon. NcMU 



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