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S. 854 



NEVADA/FLORIDA LAND EXCHANGE 

 AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1987 



The Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning supports S. 854. 

 S. 854 proposes the transfer of 4,650 acres of land located in a sensitive 

 wetlands area of Florida for 51,710 acres of public land currently under 

 Bureau of Land Management administration in the Coyote Springs and Garfield 

 Flat areas in Nevada's Lincoln and Clark Counties. The transfer of land 

 should protect sensitive wetlands in southern Florida and also enable the 

 important defense needs of the nation to be met by providing the land for 

 the construction of the test facility in southern Nevada. The area in 

 Nevada being considered is almost completely unpopulated and with proper 

 planning will offer minimal impact to the public and environment. The 

 location of the site with regard to metropolitan Las Vegas is illustrated 

 in Map 1. 



Staff also supports the project for the potential economic benefits to 

 southern Nevada. The project is especially important to the citizens of 

 Lincoln County. The project would provide relief for the current economic 

 difficulties being experienced in Lincoln County. Likewise, the project 

 will also assist in meeting the economic diversification needs of Clark 

 County. The Aerojet project would complement the defense-related activi- 

 ties currently taking place in Nevada. 



Clark County, it should be noted, has a .number of environmental and safety 

 concerns associated with the project. Among these are the routing and 

 handling of materials employed in the testing of the rocket motors, the 



