297 



CROWN DEVELOFi.EKT AND MINING COMPANY 

 P. 0. Box 31 

 Vsellington, Nevada 89^4^ 



Wallace J. Cavanaugh 

 8497 Carlton Way 

 Los Angeles, CA 9OO69 

 June 30, 1987 



To I The Honorable Dale Bumpers, Chairman 



Sub-Committee on Public Lands, National Parks and Forests 

 of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 



Subjecti Public hearing comments in support of S. 59i a bill 



entitled "National Forests and Public Lands of Nevada 

 Enhancement Act of 1987" 



I wish to thank the Sub-Committee for allowing me the opportun- 

 ity to present an oral and written statement in support of the 

 bill. 



Last year a similar bill was submitted to the 99th Congress, but 

 it failed to get out of committee because of certain deficiencies 

 which have since been corrected in this bill. I am particularly 

 appreciative of Senator Hecht's action to withhold a decision 

 on last year's bill until these deficiencies could be addressed. 

 I am aware he did so in spite of severe criticism from the Nevada 

 press and other supporters of the bill. The result of his 

 efforts is an improved bill, one that I can support rather than 

 oppose. The people of Nevada are indeed fortunate to have a per- 

 son with such foresight and political fortitude as Senator Hecht 

 to represent their interests in the United States Congress. 



My problem with the bill became critical when certain public lands 

 now managed by the BLM were proposed to be transferred to the 

 adjacent National Forest. I have been developing a group of mining 

 claims for many years in the Pine Grove Mining District of Lyon 

 County, Nevada, all within the Toiyabe National Forest. The BIM 

 land in question borders this forest. 



Recent advances in cyanide processing technology has made the 

 commercial production of gold a favorable economic possibility 

 for this property. The Forest Service has opposed the chemical 

 milling process in this area because of the sensitive nature of 

 the environmental issues inherent in the use of cyanides. The 

 State of Nevada agencies, which have jurisdiction over environ- 

 mental controls, have given their approval for the project. 



The local Forest Service personnel have prolonged the_ application 

 procedures for over three years in an attempt to prohibit the 

 mill in this location. This has required nearly 500 pages of 

 negotiation correspondence and the additional generation of 350 

 pages of legal documents by our attorneys. The government filed 



