Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Gold Butte Solution Requires Common Sense

In an article run in the Las Vegas Review Journal on March 25 2010 Columnist

Click Here to view the full article in the Review Journal


At one end of the spectrum, you have those who come to Gold Butte seeking solitude by exploring it on foot. At the other end, you have those seeking a place to ride their all-terrain vehicles where dust police leave them alone. And in the middle, you have the hunters, trappers, campers and prospectors who generally see the value of both modes of exploring. They have been coming to Gold Butte all along and just want to keep doing so.

I don't see these various uses as being mutually exclusive -- probably because I am a diehard supporter of a multiple-use approach to public lands management. Unfortunately, what generally happens in a case such as Gold Butte is political correctness pushes aside common sense and access to our public places is severely limited, all in the name of protection.


In regard to Gold Butte, the people of Southern Nevada are standing at the crossroads. Increased human activity is no doubt having an impact on the natural, cultural and historic resources within the Gold Butte area, so some level of management is needed to ensure its future. The question is how much management -- that means rules and regulations -- is needed to achieve that end. I vote for fewer rather than more.



I could not agree more with Nielsen, the various recreational activities that people want to engage in at Gold Butte are NOT mutually exclusive. The area that we are talking about here is no small chunk of country. There is room for all of us to play. Lets do as Nielsen suggests and get people who have common sense to the table to build a solution that we can all live with for the Gold Butte region. Lets create protection with access for our public lands.