Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, let me thank the ranking subcommittee chairman, Mr. Grijalva, for his leadership and the chairman for the House Natural Resources Committee.

It is my honor to be here in support of this legislation today. With this bill, the city of Yerington, which is one key provision of this bill within this measure, will be allowed to purchase at fair market value over 10,000 acres of land from the Bureau of Land Management.

It is a very technical bill but has tremendous impacts to the State of Nevada at large. This is a true benefit for Lyon County, and it is in no way a giveaway. This project will generate between $15 to $25 million in annual revenue for Lyon County, Lyon County schools, South Lyon Hospital District, the Mason Valley Fire Protection District, and the State of Nevada.

Nevada Copper, the relevant mining company, already owns roughly 95 percent of the minerals to be mined, and it is contained on 1,500 acres of privately-held land.

We expect that the total economic impact of this development will create approximately 3,000 to 4,000 jobs when you include indirect employment. The mine itself will directly employ approximately 800 to 900 people, providing high-quality wages for nearly two decades. This is in addition to the more than 500 people who will be employed during the construction phase.

In this comprehensive development, up to 63 percent of the acquired Federal lands will be used for infrastructure, other economic development, and local recreation.

We further anticipate that the city of Yerington will be able to draw in additional economic activity due to these infrastructure investments which include power, roads, water, and sewer infrastructure; additionally, this project is environmentally sound.

In fact, the legislation includes the creation of the Wovoka Wilderness Act which will protect old growth pinyon pine and unique archeological sites and preserve this region for future generations of Nevada.

This is a commonsense bill that will create jobs for one of the most economically depressed counties in our country; and, while it took time for this legislation to move, it reminds me that with hard work, determination, and a little bipartisanship, we can get things done.

This is a bill that has unanimous support from the local community. It has unanimous support from the Federal delegation of the State of Nevada, and it passed without objection out of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Let's use the passage of a noncontroversial bill out of the House as a lesson that there is a place for Congress to help the American people. There is good that government can do, and something that appears to be a small achievement in the constellation of national politics will mean a lot to Lyon County, particularly the city of Yerington.

In addition to moving this important job-creating bill, I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to move the Tule Springs national monument bill considered for action next.

On top of the national park designation, this bill would transfer land from the BLM to the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas for two 600-acre economic development zones.

It would also transfer land across the street from the southern Nevada veterans hospital. Mayor John Lee and I envision this as space for a new medical complex that could be the anchor for a new medical school in southern Nevada.

Let's keep working. We have great momentum right now. Nevadans today see that we can get things done here in Washington and Washington can solve problems; and, while today's bill is just a tiny crack in the dam of congressional gridlock, if we keep moving forward where we have consensus, we can achieve great things for our constituents.

I want to especially thank my colleague, Representative Mark Amodei, for all of his hard work on this important legislation. Our congressional districts both contain parts of Lyon County.

He fought hard for this bill during previous sessions of Congress. His support has been critical to getting this entire package of bills through this House, and I want to continue working with him and our entire Nevada delegation to put our State first.

I also want to thank the ranking member, Mr. DeFazio, for helping make this bill a top priority for our side of the aisle, as well as to the subcommittee chairman, Mr. Grijalva, for advocating for this bill to move quickly through the process.

Last but not least I want to thank Chairman Doc Hastings and the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Bishop, for working across the aisle and making this bill a priority.

Since I have arrived in Congress, you both have been willing to work with me on important public lands issues for my home State, and I am grateful to you both for your service and for your stability in working together on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this is an important bill that would create jobs that are desperately needed in a portion of Nevada's Fourth District, and I would like to thank this body for their consideration in passage of this important legislation.

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