Las Vegas, NV – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) joined Nevada’s Congressional Democratic Delegation in sending a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum urging him not to roll back designations of national monuments.
The Delegation raised concerns about a recent order by Secretary Burgum initiating a 15-day review of possible impediments, including national monuments, to accessing natural resources, including oil and gas.
“We urge the administration to refrain from attempts to unilaterally alter lands with existing national monument designations, as we’ve seen previously at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante,” the Delegation said in the letter.
“Decisions to protect these treasured lands were not made on a whim,” they continued. “They were the result of intense engagements with tribes, community leaders, and local businesses. While Congress reserves the authority to revoke or adjust national monuments, any future action by your department should be a result of the same level of outreach and public engagement.”
The letter is supported by the following organizations: Conservation Lands Foundation; Friends of Avi Kwa Ame; Friends of Basin and Range National Monument; Friends of Gold Butte; Friends of Nevada Wilderness; Friends of Sloan Canyon; Native Voters Alliance Nevada; Nevada Conservation League; Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition; and Save Red Rock.
In recent years, Basin & Range, Gold Butte, and Avi Kwa Ame have been designated as national monuments in Nevada and have been a boon to the state’s $8 billion outdoor recreation economy. The letter came in response to Secretarial Order 3418, specifically Section 4c which initiated a 15-day review of national monuments and mineral withdrawals.
Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen are champions for Nevada’s great outdoor spaces and public lands. They passed critical legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects public lands in Nevada and across the U.S. They passed bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, and they delivered critical funding to protect Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Cortez Masto has introduced legislation to ban oil and gas development in Nevada’s beautiful and pristine Ruby Mountains.
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