9/15/2014
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Jeffress, (775) 560-9594, jjeffress@tu.org
Pine Forest Range bill passes House; sportsmen urge Senate to honor stakeholder agreement in final version
Washington D.C. — Trout Unlimited said the passage of H.R. 5202, the Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act, by the House of Representatives was a welcome step forward and that sportsmen look forward to reinstating some of the measures original language as the Senate takes up consideration of the bill. H.R. 5202 passed the House late Monday.
The Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act, part of the package of bills that comprise H.R. 5202, was developed through a ground-up, stakeholder-driven process. The original version of the bill has been endorsed by a wide variety of stakeholders, from anglers and hunters to ranchers to local elected officials.
“Passage in the U.S. House of Representatives is a significant step forward for the Pine Forest Act. Trout Unlimited thanks Rep. Amodei for his leadership in advancing the bill,” said Jim Jeffress, Nevada Backcountry Coordinator for Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project. “Now, we look forward to working with the Senate to make some small adjustments to the legislation that will better reflect the collaborative nature and original intent of the proposal and the investment of all the stakeholders in this process.”
The Pine Forest Range is a complex of largely undeveloped public lands in northwestern Nevada providing important water supply, habitat, and recreational values.
The Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act is supported by Nevadas entire congressional delegation and came out of an extensive collaborative process supported by Rep. Amodei. The bill includes measures such as road relocations, lands being released from consideration as wilderness, private land exchanges, and the creation of a new wilderness area from two existing Wilderness Study Areas.
Jeffress added, The Pine Forest Range bill has been a long time coming. For over a year, the stakeholders looked at maps and the country itself, going stream by stream, ridge by ridge, and road by road to identify and conserve the multiple use values of this area and create a product that all were happy with. As the Senate takes up the bill, we want to make sure all that local effort is reflected in the final product.