March 22, 2012

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today released the following statement after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on The Pine Forest Recreation Enhancement Act of 2011:

"The Pine Forest Range is one of the most beautiful and wild places in northern Nevada.This bipartisan legislation will ensure the proper stewardship and preservation of these public lands, which is important to me and to Nevadans living in Humboldt County.

"This bill was the product of a comprehensive local process that considered the concerns of local landowners, sportsmen, conservationists, former state officials and other interested parties in Humboldt County.I look forward to working with the Senate Energy Committee to move this legislation forward."

BACKGROUND

Last November, Reid led the entire Nevada delegation in introducing the bipartisan Pine Forest Recreation Enhancement Act, which is the product of a comprehensive two-year local process.Local landowners, sportsmen, conservationists, and other stakeholders in Humboldt County came together to develop this proposal through a series of public meetings and presented it to the delegation with broad community support.The Nevada State Legislature and the Secretary of the Interior have praised the robust and inclusive local process used to produce this bill as the gold standard for community-based wilderness proposals.

This bill would designate 26,000 acres within the Blue Lakes and Alder Creek Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) as the Pine Forest Range Wilderness Area and release 1,500 acres of the existing WSA lands.The bill would also direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to exchange federal lands surrounding nearby ranches for private parcels within the existing WSAs to allow for more appropriate management of public lands and ensure the economic viability of privately owned ranches.

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