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NORA Proposal - Senate Bill 59 



TABLE I 



DISTRIBUTION OF AREA III LANDS, ADMINISTERED BY ELM 

 BY LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT 



Local Unit 



Total 



Unit 



Acres 



Unencumbered 

 Acres 



Encumbered 

 Acres 



Type of 

 Encumbrance 



Washoe County 12,240 

 Carson City 3,160 

 Douglas County 18,460 



12,200 

 2,480 

 3,720 



40 



680 



6,600 

 4,040 



400 

 3,700 



Steamboat Springs 

 ACEC 



Federal Agency 

 Protective withdrawal 



Bureau of Reclamation 

 Jack's Valley Joint 

 Wildlife Management 

 Area (with Nevada 

 Dept. Of Wildlife) 

 Power Withdrawal 

 Federal Agency 

 Protective Withdrawal 



Totals 33,860 18,400 15,460 



*** Note: All acreages are approximate 



It should come as no surprise, however, that a high 

 percentage of those lands remaining in public ownership in 

 AREA III have unique qualities which make them highly sensitive 

 to changes in administrative authority. The smallest encumbered 

 unit is also perhaps the most visible to the public: 40 acre 

 Steamboat Springs ACEC (Area of Critical Environmental Concern) . 

 This unit, while small, nevertheless has national significance 

 since it contains the second largest collection of geysers and 

 hot springs in Federal ownership. The only larger concentration 

 is at Yellowstone National Park. Any scenario involving the 

 transfer of the ACEC acreage from BLM management to control by 

 the USFS must preserve at least the existing protective mandate 

 for this public resource. Since the USFS has no binding authority 

 to create or maintain ACEC's beyond local prerogative, a more 

 permanent mechanism must be employed. 



The present Steamboat Springs BLM ACEC should be a 

 Congressional ly mandated ACEC, to be managed by the controlling 

 agency as a natural area and for public recreation. Congress 

 should reserve to itself the sole authority to rescind 

 designation as an ACEC and not delegate this authority to anyone 

 else. The proposed Congressional ACEC should also contain the 40 



