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Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee, announced the approval of a comprehensive public lands package that will create new wilderness areas, release unnecessary wilderness study areas (WSA), convey federal land to local governments, provide land for economic development, and offer new outdoor recreation opportunities in Northern Nevada. The bipartisan Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act, co-authored by Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) and Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) passed during the House Natural Resources full committee markup by a vote of 29-14.

“We are on the cusp of a new paradigm of land management. This bill is among the steps I hope we continue taking toward changing the status quo of how we solve public land management challenges. In order for these new efforts to be successful, we must all approach these issues differently and abandon the tired arguments and positions of the past. We may not be able to fix all that is broken in Washington but we can certainly do our part by changing the way we address federal land policies. This public lands package addressed a complex array of interests and priorities in Northern Nevada. I am pleased with the final bill and commend Congressman Amodei and Congressman Horsford for overcoming political barriers and other outside pressure to do what is right for Nevadans. I look forward to joining with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in support of this bill when it comes to the floor for a vote,” said Congressman Bishop.

The Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act is comprised of several different public lands bills. Specifically, it:  
-creates 73,500 acres of new wilderness
-conveys 23,000 acres for economic development 
-releases 990 acres within a wilderness study area
-provides a 3-to-1 ratio of wilderness-to-economic development, which far exceeds the 1-to-1 standard supported by the wilderness community 

In addition to the Northern Nevada Land Conservation and Economic Development Act, the House Natural Resources Committee passed the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Conservation and Recreation Act, which created 33,000 acres of new wilderness.