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TRAILBLISTER OF THE LAS VEGAS GROUP: WILDERNESS PROPOSAL FOR LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA. . . The Park Service will probably hold public hearings sometime this summer on its wilderness proposal for areas of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, according to Mr. Glen Bean, Superintendent of the LMNRA. The Park Service proposal has been forwarded to the NPS regional supervisor for review, Bean said. NPS approval of the proposal is expected sometime in May, and public hearings could be held two months after that. The draft proposal contains one feature likely to draw criticism from conservationists. The LMNRA planners intend to leave all of the major washes in the area open to vehicle access. Each wash would then create a "finger" extending into designated wilderness. However, John McComb, Sierra Club Southwest Regional Representative, reports rumors in Washington that no wilderness hearings on any area are likely to be held before the presidential elections in November. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE DESERT WILDERNESS PROPOSAL? After the public hearings last fall here in Las Vegas, the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife forwarded the proposal to Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton. Everyone was in hopes the proposal would have been forwarded to the President and then to Congress for action this spring. Public approval was favorable--overwhelming might be a better word: of 578 statements received, 567 were in favor and only 11 in opposition. Even the Air Force approved the proposal despite the proximity of the Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range. About the only opposition came from the mining interests; however, the Bureau of Snort Fisheries and Wildlife acknowledges that "the economic value of mineral production within the area has been negligible." In any case, there's a great deal of Nevada still open to prospecting and mineral entry. For the past few months, however, the proposal has been lodged in Secretary Morton's office. Just why it hasn't moved on to the President is not clear, but there has been some indication that pressure from the mining interests and the Air Force may be blocking it. Letters to Secretary Morton asking for speedy action by the Department of Interior on the proposal and an estimated date for expected legislative action are needed. Please write to: |
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COUNTY COMMISSION APPROVES NAVAJO-McCULLOUGH POWER LINE. . . The Clark County Commission voted 4 to 1 at its April 10 special session in favor of a request by the Los Angeles Light and Power Company to construct a 500-KV transmission line from Page, Arizona to the McCullough Switching Station south of Boulder City. The route approved by the commission will cross the Arizona Strip north of the Colorado River and then pass through the Rainbow Gardens area east of Las Vegas. The Arizona Strip country is presently free of transmission lines, but it is expected that as many as ten lines will eventually run along the right-of-way. |
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