Federal Agency Land-management Planning

Because more than 87 percent of Nevada is federally managed, the Center is especially committed to watchdogging the development and implementation land-management plans. Submitting comments under the National Environmental Policy Act, we make sure that agencies prepare a legally required environmental impact statement analyzing the ecosystem effects of every proposed plan.

Our involvement in the development of the Bureau of Land Management's Ely District Plan resulted in the abandonment of two coal-fired power plants planned for federal lands, and we continue to fight a third coal plant on the Ely District — the Toquop proposal — which is now being reconceived as a possible solar facility.

We are also actively involved in the  BLM's resource management-plan revisions currently ongoing for the Southern Nevada and Winnemucca districts, advocating for critical measures including proper siting of renewable energy projects, reining in off-road vehicle use, combating urban sprawl's effects on ecosystems, limiting groundwater pumping and taking steps against climate change — as well as protecting a long list of at-risk plants and animals.

Finally, the Center is preparing for active involvement in updates of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest's outdated forest-management plans — which were largely prepared in the mid-1980s and have never been revised, despite agency regulations requiring plan updates every 10 years.

 

Photo of Lake Mead National Recreation Area by mandj98/Flickr.