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NORA Proposal - Senate Bill 59 H 



Another major encumbered acreage west of US 395 is the 

 Jack's Valley Wildlife Management Area (WMA) . The WMA contains 

 all the public land in Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24 in 

 Township 14 North, Range 19 East, totalling about 4040 acres in 

 Douglas County. The WMA is a joint management area between the 

 BLM and the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) . If this WMA is 

 to be transferred it must again receive a level of protection 

 which it currently enjoys and which the USPS is not in a legal 

 position to give. Additionally, a transfer would necessitate 

 bringing in new personnel from USPS and creating new 

 relationships when the current relationships are quite 

 satisfactory. A Congressionally mandated ACEC would be 

 appropriate for this WMA so that its existence would not be 

 subject to the whim of local administrators. The program is a 

 valuable one and should continue. 



The third large area of encumbered acreage is south of 

 Dresslerville in southern Douglas County. Here the Bureau of 

 Reclamation has withdrawn about 6880 acres. In the same area 

 there is also a power withdrawal of about 400 acres. We have no 

 idea how these withdrawals would be affected by transfer of 

 management authority, but it should be considered. 



Finally, there is also a federal agency protective 

 withdrawal of about 3700 acres generally around Topaz Lake. This 

 withdrawal should also remain in force if it is to be transferred 

 to the USPS. 



It would seem that inclusion of AREA III in the Interchange 

 Bill would actually produce many more severe problems than the 

 relatively inconsequential management problems it seeks to 

 address. Is the on-going administrative hassle caused to the 

 agencies themselves, the public, and local governments really 

 justified, simply to "put more green on the map of Nevada"? Less 

 than 35,000 or so acres, which will be excessively hard to manage 

 effectively as National Porest Lands, is all there is to be 

 added. We do not think it is worth the effort. It is much 

 simpler, cost effective, and administratively sound to leave 

 management in AREA III as it is. If AREA III is ultimately to be 

 included in the Bill, our support would be predicated on at least 

 Congressional ACEC protection for an expanded, 80 acre Steamboat 

 Springs ACEC and similar protection for the Jack's Valley WMA. 



