Lets Make a Deal

If I came to you and said, “I have a deal for you. Do you agree to it?”  Your response back to me would be, “What’s the deal.” In reply I say, “We will figure that out as we go. What is important is that you say you agree to the deal. So will you take that first step and agree that we have a deal?” This seems absurd, correct? I couldn’t agree more. Yet this is the current state of play in regards to legislative action concerning Gold Butte.

Let us ignore reality for a moment, and pretend that legislation was the next step in the course of events for Gold Butte. There would need to be a clearly defined plan that addresses specific issues upfront and in the beginning stages of any legislative plan. Some of these include such concerns as a fire management plan, minimizing the negative effects of invasive plant species, properly managing water resources, transportation plan, and a growth model built to appropriately handle an influx of visitors coming for the diverse array of recreational opportunities. How will we adequately meet those needs and what kind of infrastructure will be needed to support it. How much money will come with the new designation and how will it be spent and on what? How many rangers will it take to adequately manage this area and what is the ranger to visitor ratio used to project the future management of the area as its visibility grows. By giving Gold Butte a national designation and elevating its awareness to a larger audience, it becomes not a question of, if more visitors will come, but how many and how quickly will they come.  The new influx of visitors alone would create a whole new set of issues to be addressed not yet facing Gold Butte. Despite this even small subset of questions the current plans, legislation or talks of legislation address none of this.

I point blank asked the lobbyist representing the wilderness interest the question, “What are you trying to accomplish at Gold Butte?”  The response was the same time-worn and ambiguous rhetoric, “Permanent protection for Gold Butte.” That makes for a nice sounds byte but there is more to protection than a label. Protection doesn’t happen with a stroke of a pen in Washington. Protection is brought about with a detailed plan that addresses specific issues and a dedicated group of people committed to that plan. Legislation is not the first step in that plan, it is the last step.

If this was about protection and the long term sustainability of the resources out at Gold Butte then the conversation would focus on those concerns. Not legislating a clearly defined management plan upfront, that addresses as many of the specific issues that face the area as part of the legislation, is a game of chance. People who are willing to take that risk clearly articulate their lack of understanding of the legitimate concerns that face Gold Butte. Their blatant disregard for the current issues and the issues that will be created by putting a gold star on the map for Gold Butte works only to reveal their narrow intent. This isn’t about better public lands management; it is about pushing through a massive wilderness bill.

We need to move the conversation from politics and to better public lands management. This should be about ensuring that my children, the next generation, have the same opportunities to recreate at Gold Butte and see this country as their great grandfathers did and truly enjoy this magnificent piece of public lands responsibly whether that is on a horse, fourwheeler, motorbike, hiking, or solar powered hovercraft when they are invented. It should be about creating recreational opportunities, not limiting them. It should be about educating visitors about the importance of responsible use, not limiting them from use. This should be about identifying the specific threats that face Gold Butte like fires and invasive species and how to limit their effects on the landscape. It should be about properly managing the springs, wildlife and other legitimate biological and environmental threats.

Despite these plain and simple truths the current legislation and plans being pushed for at this point in time do not address any of this. Instead it is focused on who is in congress and how they can be bullied into introducing legislation. This is not a game show and public lands policy should not be about politics.

The Introductions

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Congressman Joe Heck, Nevada State Assemblyman Cresent Hardy, Nevada State Senator Joe Hardy, members of the community and a special interest group to discuss Gold Butte politics. Most of the faces were the familiar and the agenda was the standard affair. Despite the repetitive nature of these meetings there is one part that I always look forward to, the introductions. This is when we go around the table and state our name and for many, it is a time to recite their genealogical connection to Gold Butte. I love this because it exhibits the pride and sense of community that locals take in Gold Butte.

Some, at the table roll their eyes, as locals relate stories about trips out with their grandpa or get lost counting how many great-greats it was when their family first came into this country. These stories are told not to elevate the local status above the group or suppose that our opinion is more valid for this single reason. Members of the community who have long standing lineage at Gold Butte understand that we are not entitled to anything more than anyone else because we have seniority. What we are is proud of our heritage and the lessons and love that have been passed down through the generations for the piece of God’s country called Gold Butte. It is that love that makes us passionate and protective of Gold Butte.

The politics in regards to Gold Butte, best described as a distraction, are often oversimplified to access versus protection. With this over simplification it is easy to pose legislation as the simple solution. This is a detriment to Gold Butte and plays handily into a narrow agenda. The reality is that there are specific projects that can be done to help improve the visitor experience and protect the cultural resources that don’t require legislative action. Quite simply none of the projects that need to be done at Gold Butte need congressional action. They can and are being accomplished on a community level with the local managing agency partnered with the community. If we look to ourselves instead of Washington for answers we will find them. The very people sitting around the table who take pride and ownership of Gold Butte will be the solution to a sustainable Gold Butte.

 

The question was posed, I don’t know if we can always count on that level of commitment by the community. I handily disagree with that statement as I am proudly raising five children who are learning the same love and appreciation for Gold Butte as my parents and grandparents taught me and I know many other parents doing the same. In response I asked, where are you going to place your bet, your children or the federal government to save Gold Butte?

Who better to have as the active stewards of Gold Butte than those who have watched generations in their family care for this piece of country out of love, as opposed to politics? We know that it’s not a locals only spot anymore, regrettable nevertheless reality, however we also have a deep knowledge and understanding of the area and a desire to maintain the place we have loved and lived so that we may pass it on to our children. It is the partnerships between the managing agencies and an engaged community that will save Gold Butte for the next generation, not legislation.

Better Model for Governing

In January of 2011 Senator Heller, then a congressman for Nevada’s 2^nd congressional district, wrote an article for the Field and Stream magazine titled Wilderness Does Not Equal Effective Wildlife Management. This is an outstanding letter and I commend Senator Heller for laying his views out on the table. The outdoor recreation community is in need of a Senator who will support common sense management initiatives on public lands here in Nevada. I believe that this is a perfect opportunity for Senator Heller to make his stance on Gold Butte known and be our representative.

I would like to build on the concepts that Heller’s letter in Field and Stream offer and put those principles into practice right here in our own state.  In his letter, Senator Heller talks about the impact that Federal land management policies have on a community.  Policy that is created in Washington reduces the local community’s ability to be involved in the process. Policy should be developed and implemented on a community level not written and mandated in Washington.  We need to take the Washington politics out of public lands management and allow the communities and the agencies that were established to manage our public lands do just that.

Senator Heller seems to encourage this type of management from his statement in the letter in Field and Stream, “Maintaining healthy ecosystems and wildlife populations is not a simple or easy task. This task becomes more complicated when land management decisions are taken out of the hands of state wildlife officials, local communities, and stakeholders who know the area best.”

Gold Butte doesn’t need further bureaucratic overhead from Washington. The current management tools are in place to properly manage Gold Butte right now. Local community stewardship, in partner with the local agencies, is the type of management that I would hope our representatives in Washington would promote. In a quote from Senator Heller’s letter I believe he agrees, “a transparent public process that includes input from local officials, communities, and stakeholders is a better model for governing.” We are entitled to the transparent public process that Senator Heller talked about. There should be no shortcuts and no quick wins in public lands management.

I will be calling on Senator Heller to not support any new federal designation at Gold Butte but instead support the local communities and the agencies in their continued effort to design a management plan that protects both our natural resources and our access to public lands.

Heller's letter in Field and Stream can be found here:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/01/guest-post-wilderness-does-not-equal-effective-wildlife-management

The Year Mark

It has been a year since I started the Save Gold Butte website. We have covered a lot of ground 48 posts later. I have had the opportunity to be a part of and seen many people get involved, making calls, writing letters and going to meetings. I have spent my time doing this with the goal of working towards public lands stewardship at a community level. I initially got actively involved because the threat of legislative intervention was “imminent”. Well I cannot say what could have been or might have been, but through the hard work and dedication of many people, there has been no legislative intervention and our public lands are still open and being cared for at a local level.

I have met a lot of people, been to many meetings, been a part of some wonderful events and enjoyed many trips out to Gold Butte with politicians, congressional staffers, local citizens and my family. And that is what it is all about, getting out and enjoying our beautiful country. It is hard for people to dismiss the grandeur and beauty of this part of the country and not want to be a part of keeping it accessible for everyone.

Oddly enough I even found out that there are still some good people left at the BLM who believe in their multiple-use mission. One of my favorite events was the Public Lands Day activity held in September. For our project we started a site to be a repository for any and every piece of history that we could scrounge up about Gold Butte. One of our goals with the site is to raise awareness of every part of history tied to Gold Butte including our pioneer, cattle ranching and mining history which played a significant part in the development of southern Nevada and the west. The site is http://www.goldbuttehistory.blogspot.com/ we haven’t been as diligent as we could in getting our histories posted but it is a goal and we hope to continue with the effort. If you have anything that you could add please contact me.

If I could have a goal for the next year with Save Gold Butte it would be to raise awareness of the issues facing public lands, grow the local stewardship movement and encourage people to get out and enjoy this beautiful country. By getting out and soaking up this beautiful landscape you can’t help but want to be a part of keeping it open and accessible in a responsible manner. Protection with access is still my primary objective.

The flowers are blooming, the early spring grass is coming up and the weather is perfect for a Spring trip out to the Gold Butte country. Get out and enjoy it. I’ll see ya out there.

Nature's Remedy

As the doors closed on the 111th Congress I was reminded of a line from the classic Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities


Death is Nature's remedy for all things, and why not Legislation's?

Learning the Hard Way

The recent discovery of vandalism at Red Rock National Conservation Area (NCA) at one of the rock art sites has been making the rounds on the news circuits. This kind of senseless and destructive vandalism is inexcusable and I hope that the vandals are caught. However, in trying to find the best of a bad situation, one thing that these recent actions have done is stir up the conversations around protection, education and enforcement of our public lands and cultural sites.

KNPR State of Nevada had Mark Boatwright, BLM Archeologist in Las Vegas, as a guest speaker on December 3^rd 2010. The conversation was centered on the vandalism at the rock art sites but the discussions also touched on some of the issues faced when managing cultural sites. In the interview Mark said, “The problems that we have with managing rock art sites is their accessibility. The closer that they are to the road, whether it’s an NCA or a monument; the more likely you are to see graffiti.  ”

In a post I wrote back in October, Defining Access, I worked to define that access is more than the simple definition of an open or closed road. I think that Mr. Boatwright complements this discussion with his quote about access, “The problems that we have with managing rock art sites is their accessibility.” I believe that access also encompasses the visibility or awareness of certain areas as well. Political designations are one tool that is used to raise awareness of specific areas to a much broader audience. These political designations include NCA, Wilderness, National Monument and the likes. To brand certain areas with distinct labels and highlight them on every map, publishing it on internet sites and printed media is making these areas more accessible by advertising their location. However, with this raised awareness there is also an associated risk that is being ignored.

While many are using the recent actions of vandalism at Red Rock as testimony to rush Gold Butte’s status as an NCA, I would counter that this is plain and clear evidence of why it should not be rushed. If an area like Red Rock that has been protected for many years, is much smaller geographically, and has more intense management and available resources than Gold Butte, and it is still getting vandalized, maybe pointing the spot light on Gold Butte is not in Gold Butte’s best interest. Now is not the time to earmark Gold Butte for the bureaucratic brand.

Now is the time, when Gold Butte is flying low on most people’s radar, to build a practical management plan. A management plan that focuses on education and enforcement objectives that can safeguard Gold Butte’s resources and accessibility for the general public. To label Gold Butte an NCA and highlight it on every map and print it on every national register is reckless and irresponsible. If everyone who believes they are as impassioned as they preach about what is best for Gold Butte, could focus their misguided energies on sustainable solutions for Gold Butte, positive achievements could be accomplished. However, if this agenda is pushed, it is being run at the risk of the irreparable consequences it carries to the physical sites and the general public.

It is time to foster new discussions instead of the same ol’ worn out rhetoric calling for the implementation of ineffective policies that do not work. It’s time to come up with sustainable solutions, instead of taking risks and putting our public lands in danger.

Legislative Integrity – Avoiding Another Omnibus

The phone calls have stopped, the road side signs are being taken down and the negative campaign ads that clogged the television and newspapers have stopped. Finally election season 2010 is over. However don’t let your guard down just yet. With the recent election we are left with a Lame Duck congress. This leaves our rejected representatives held accountable to no one yet still left with the privilege of casting votes that directly impact our lives.

The biggest threat to public lands over the next two months is the looming possibility of yet another unjust omnibus bill being introduced at the midnight hour. This covert and underhanded tactic denies the process of government its constitutional responsibility to adequately consider all legislation introduced. This circumvents the system, set forth by the founding fathers, to take its proper course which governs our nation.

Essentially what an omnibus bill does it take several, if not hundreds, of pieces of individual legislation and roll them all up into one bill. This makes it so our representatives cast an all or nothing vote for a large and diverse group of legislation. At face value this may seem like and efficient way to get things done, however in reality what it does is deny each individual piece of legislation the proper consideration that it deserves. The previous bill in 2009 included about 160 individual pieces of legislation affected nine western states, and eliminating over 2 million acres of public lands for motorized recreation. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

I will admit that there are some good things that get done with this massive bill, that’s the key to getting it passed. You have a few shining stars that cast a positive light on this bill while in the shadows the favors to special interest are slipped in with the hopes they get lost in the confusion. Gold Butte is a likely candidate for one of those favors to special interest that would get slipped into this mammoth bill. Gold Butte and hundreds of other similar places like it, that deserve individual consideration, will be sacrificed at the hands of another omnibus bill.

The fact that we have situations like the Lame Duck session and allow loopholes like the omnibus bill use to really bother me. I use to question if the system, set forth by the founding fathers, was broke. As I sat down and tried to come up with a better solution to the current system a simple fact hit me like a ton of bricks, it’s not the system that is broke it’s the people we allow to manipulate it. The biggest threat to responsible government is those who are seeking to abuse it.

We can try and create a perfect system or craft the slickest piece of legislation however there will always be people who find loopholes. You cannot legislate integrity. Those principles have to be brought to Washington by those who we elect to public office and we must demand that they uphold those values. Don’t blame the system, blame those who abuse the system.

With the difficulties that our nation faces spending time and resources trying to pass an unscrupulous omnibus bill to further a misguided agenda pushed by special interest is not the best allocation of our representative’s time. Please take the time this week to contact your representatives and tell them that you do not support another omnibus lands bill. 

Congresswoman Titus
https://forms.house.gov/titus/contact-form.shtml

Senator Reid
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Ensign
http://www.ensign.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Defining Access

Access can be one of the most divisive issues when it comes to public lands. Many people equate or translate roads directly to access. This is a broad misconception. Roads are a part of access but they are only a piece of the puzzle. Access is not only the means by which we see the country but more importantly the experience and the perception that we get when we connect with a certain place. It is not enough to just see the landscape from a designated vantage point, it is our ability to be a part of, and connect with, the land in a variety of ways that makes a place accessible.


I can see Red Rock from my office window but does that mean I have access to it? If roads are only open to licensed, street legal vehicles, is that access? If the managing agencies quit maintaining the roads to be left to the natural forces of nature to close the road, which relieve them of direct accountability for the road closure, are they providing access to public lands? If hundreds of thousands of acres are manipulated into the idea of “Wilderness” does that allow my family and the public access to these places?

One person’s narrow definition of what access is, confines all of us to experience that place as they believe we should. One person’s political definition of what a landscape is does not change the physical characteristics or the history of that place. What it does, is force the rest of us to conform to their beliefs right, wrong or indifferent. It forces us to see and experience this place as they believe we should be allowed to. Regulation that manipulates the reality to conform to a group’s specific interpretation of a place limits access to individuals to see and experience a place. Creating authoritarian regulation that strips away the Sense of Place, which makes each individual landscape throughout our public lands so diverse, robs a community and future generations of that place.


Agencies that stop maintaining roads on public lands with the hopes that natural forces will close them off, is not responsible public land management. Temporary road closures with vague rationale, no timelines and no communication to the public is not responsible land management. These elusive tactics applied over a long period of time eventually lead to restricted access and erodes public trust in the managing agencies.

What happens to a “designated road” when it cuts through a “potential habitat” for an endangered species like the Arizona Bell Vireo, Banded Gecko, Banded Gila Monster, Blue Grosbeak, Desert Iguana, Desert Night Lizard, Desert Tortoise, Great Basin Collared Lizard, large Spotted Leopard Lizard, peregrine Falcon, Phainopepla, Southern Desert Horned Lizard, Southwester Willow Flycatcher, Summer Tanger, Vermillion Flycatcher, Western Burrowing Owl, Western Chickwalla, Western Red Tailed Skunk, Yellow Billed Cuckoo? You know what will happen, the road will be closed. It will probably be a “temporary closure” while it gets studied but nonetheless a closure. What about other external forces like fire and flood damage? We have already seen road closures due to the above listed items.

Access embodies a wide range of elements including the physical landscape, the complete history of the area, the roads, the means by which we travel the roads and the feelings that a person has about the place they are visiting. It is the overall experience that a person has while exploring the back country that makes it accessible. To rush into legislative action without fully understanding what Gold Butte is, restricts access to it. Labeling Gold Butte with an ambiguous political designation, to pacify special interests, compounds the issues surrounding public lands, it does not solve them. Trying to build a solution on a faulty foundation manufactured for politics, not better public lands management will not succeed in the long term. If we are going to build a sustainable solution that maintains the characteristics of Gold Butte, while preserving access to it, the solution will have to start from the ground up. This can only be accomplished with active involvement by the local communities and collaboration with the local land management agency.

Creating a Responsible Environment

I am sure that all of us, at one point or another, have been in a situation where we felt like we were destined to fail. Maybe it was at work with a new policy that was implemented or a supervisor that was trying to prove a point. Maybe you were involved in an extracurricular activity where the demands of the group exceeded the potential of the group’s ability to actually reach their goal. Or maybe a new law was put into practice that, when applied in the real world, was hopeless at best. Often while out with my family enjoying Gods Country I can’t help but feel that much of our current policy and management practices in regards to public lands is creating an environment for people to fail to recreate responsibly.

o Restrooms

People have claimed that there is a problem with visitors to Whitney Pockets inappropriately using the site as a restroom facility. I agree that this is disgusting however there is a relatively easy solution to this problem. Instead of making this a big deal and using it for leverage to push your group’s agenda, focus your energy on fixing the problem. Build a facility. Whitney Pockets is the end of the oil and the gateway to Gold Butte. Instead of squandering time and resources on such things as BLM corrals and closing trails we should work to create and environment for people to recreate responsibly. If we create a situation for people to fail they will. I propose we focus our energy in positive means and work to build Gold Butte as a place where people and families can responsibly enjoy our greatest asset, public lands.

o Camping

I have heard, from both the BLM and other groups, that they report people camping illegally. Again to reiterate what I proposed for the restroom issue; Instead of making this a big deal and using it for leverage to push your own agenda, focus your energy on fixing the problem. Clearly define the areas where you want them to camp, educate and share maps and information with them and the problem is fixed. If you build it they will come.

o Roads & Trails

Roads are the means by which our public lands are controlled. If there is one issue that you can count on to get people stirred up it is roads. Roads have been closed at Gold Butte. Some are categorize as “Temporary Closures” and others have just been closed and marked as “Restored”. I am sure that in some people’s minds the road closures make sense and under certain rules and regulation it is even legal. However the current practice, by which these closures are carried out in my opinion, is where much of the contention is created. This combined with the new mantra of, “if the road is not marked open then it’s closed”, is quickly eroding what is left of the public’s trust in the BLM.

The current practice of temporary closures to roads with little or no information disseminated to the public is criminal. If there is a legitimate reason for a closure then there needs to be a legitimate plan to bring that road back open. Share with the public in an easy and transparent manner the details surrounding the management process. If people or agencies believe there is a problem with people creating new trails and going off-road we need to educate the users of where and which roads are open. Disseminate maps, mark trails and educate the users. Create an environment where the users feel a part of the process rather than against it and progress will be made.

o Cultural Sites

There has been damage to cultural and historic sites. Has the damage been over stated for peoples own agenda? I don’t know. However I truly believe that the overwhelming majority of people who use our public lands have no intention of purposely damaging our cultural sites. What is the remedy? Despite the message that special interest and the environmental lobby take to Washington it is not closing our public lands to the public. The answer is education, community stewardship and fostering a positive relationship where collaboration from all sides can take place. 

The public has the potential to be the greatest asset that public lands, as well as the agencies who manage our public lands, could ever have. Instead of alienating what could be its most powerful partner, our agencies should work with those who truly love public lands to foster a working relationship and build a true stewardship for public lands. The agencies will be able to better direct their funding to keep our greatest asset accessible and open for the public to enjoy. We need to provide a setting where we can freely and openly take the problems and complaints that people raise and then create practical policy that will resolve the issue. We need to create public lands policy that creates an environment where people can recreate responsibly. 

Metrics to Management

Creating Practical Public Lands Policy

I am currently employed as a computer programmer. As a part of every application that I write I build a metrics component within the application. I track what functionality in the application gets used and how often. I do this because it allows me to make informed decisions about the applications that I manage. It allows me to take my metrics, things that I know, and translate that into a better management plan or process for the applications that I am tasked with maintaining. It is my opinion, that this same principle can be applied to managing our public lands.

While trying to sift and sort through all the claims and accusations about what is and what is not taking place at Gold Butte I have heard a lot of different claims from all sides. Working to come up with real world solutions, rather than hope a new political label will fix the “problem”, I thought I would try and gather what metrics I could on public lands at Gold Butte. How can we make management decisions based on abstracted hypothesis and unfounded assumptions?

If people, groups or management agencies have specific concerns about our public lands we have to sit down, list them out and come up with real world, practical solutions for each specific concern. The message that we sent to our representatives is something I truly believe; that we support a fair, transparent and open process to developing a management plan for our public lands. Collaboration and data create the opportunity to deliver results.

Increased Usage (Traffic Data and Visitor Count)
One of the biggest concerns that you hear and read over and over is about the increased usage of Gold Butte for a recreational destination. I won’t point out the obvious conflicting rationale of this claim coupled with, so we need to give Gold Butte more recognition. I will save that for a later post, but it’s something to think about.

In many peoples rational for whatever cause they champion you will hear the claim that there is increased traffic and usage out at Gold Butte. I am not disputing this claim however I wanted some actual numbers to in fact see what the increase in usage at Gold Butte is. I made contact with the BLM requesting this data along with other statistics relating to Gold Butte. Would you like to know what the actual increase of usage over time is? Me too! The BLM does not have any data, past or present, with regard to traffic or visitor counts for this region.

I am not disputing that the number of people that visit Gold Butte is growing. However, to use this rationale at face value with absolutely no numbers to back it up is foolish. People are making life altering management decisions for public lands, whether political or by the managing agency, with no actual data. The basis is nothing but elusive assumptions. How can you measure success unless your only goal is to restrict total access without baseline information and a clear and open objective?

Rangers
I have heard the argument that we need more rangers to patrol Gold Butte. I do not have a stance on this because I don’t know enough about policing public lands for me to say one way or the other. Some simple questions that I have asked, that would help me better understand, I have never got answered. How many rangers do we need? Is this number calculated off the sheer acreage of the particular region? Is it based off of incident reports and tickets from the field?

When I requested the traffic data for Gold Butte I also asked for data on incidents in the Gold Butte region, both policing and cataloged incidents for cultural sites. I was told that there is some data for the last few years however this information is not available to the public. For people to use this rationale for hopes of getting an NCA without the proper data is short sighted and detrimental to other public lands within the BLM’s purview. This would do nothing but pilfer resources from other public lands within the state. Stressing one place and stripping others of their recognition.

If we are going to find legitimate solutions to the problems that face our public lands we have to first be able to define the problem, have a goal or solution we want to reach, have base line data to gage our progress, and continue to track metrics until we can honestly claim success or failure. There has to be accountability on all sides of the table. We cannot continue to allow people, agencies or special interest the luxury to hide behind a cloud of vagaries due to the lack of accurate and freely available information.

Metrics create accountability and accountability is like disclosure….its nice when there is some.

Tip of the Iceberg

The other day I was reading an article in the High Country News about a planned pipeline through the Ruby Mountains for the delivery of natural gas. The quick synopsis of the article was that the normal “watch dog groups” and other eco-nut groups were not fighting this pipeline but supporting it. What? Really? Well the motive behind their silence is due to the fact that the company working the project offered to pay 22 million over ten years to these groups in the name of conservation. Well hell, if I was bribed I would keep my mouth shut too. 

Whether it’s channels like the Land and Water Conservation Fund created by congress which diverts federal excise taxes from offshore oil and gas development operations, money generated by the sale of “disposable” BLM land, an up and coming energy bill with new taxes, the prospects of a new climate change bill with its own new assemblage of taxes or just plain bribery by big business; all are working to create a pool of money in the name of conservation. With this new capital resource every overeager, fanatic preservationist is lining up to fund “their” project. The means may differ but the end result is the same.

I am more of an environmentalist than most honest people are comfortable with, however, I won’t be misled to believe that these groups and the agenda of special interest isn’t really about chasing dollars and power. I have seen with my own eyes the dollars blown on the tortoise and Moapa Dace to be fooled into thinking that the endangered species best interests are at heart. I was directly affected by “Clinton's Legacy” so I have a hard time believing that politicians are worried about public lands and conservation but stimulated by the hopes of writing their name in American History‏ for their own notoriety.

It’s in the name of conservation however it’s in the spirit of money, greed and power. There is more than meets the eye…

We need to find a way to cut through all the wearied rhetoric and political nonsense and work to provide valid solutions to the real problems that face our public lands. 

Past Present and Future

Earlier this week Stan Hardy and I had the opportunity to take a few members of our congressional delegation, specifically from Dina Titus’s office, out to Gold Butte. To their credit we actually went to Gold Butte. The purpose of the trip was obviously to talk politics but more importantly it was about seeing and experiencing the country we are talking about. It is one thing to talk about 350,000 acres but it is entirely another to travel down the rough roads and experience this backcountry. To experience this vast country, which is more than the few acres around Whitney Pockets, you can start to understand the complexity that surrounds what has become known as Gold Butte.

Some of my goals for the trip were to help show how truly large and expansive this country is. I wanted them to see that yes some areas get some high usage however that is only a small percentage of this country. I wanted them to see that this country is varied and diverse both in its physical characteristics but also with its rich history and strong sense of place which is derived from all of these qualities together. Native American heritage, pioneer heritage, mining, cattle ranching, and outdoor recreation are all important pieces of the landscape at Gold Butte. When talking about managing the landscape we need to see it for what it is, vast, diverse and many things to many people.

 (Horse Springs)

It is one thing to talk about managing the precious resource of water and the health of springs in a conference room however it is entirely another to go out and see the overgrowth of invasive plants like tamarisk choking a spring to death due to lack of proper management.

(Azure Windmill)

It is one thing to look at pictures of a dried up water tank and broken windmill but it is entirely another to see its dry and dusty tank while looking at a picture of it from 15 years ago brimming with water and the surrounding area green and lush helping to sustain life. When the question is asked why it is not running water now and the answer is because the BLM dismantled the windmill you can start to get a feel for the frustration felt by so many who have loved this country and watched it change over a few short years.

(Whitmore Cabin)

It is one thing to listen to the frustration from local residents who had to tear down their families cabin built in the early 20th century however it is entirely another to go out and look at pictures from then and now and see the loss of these historic landmarks.

(TreasureHawk Mine)

It is one thing to hear people’s thoughts and feelings on the Treasure Hawk Mine and how so many are working to erase our history from the landscape however it is another to see the piles of rubble and debris lying on the desert floor. When the question is asked why are there still open shafts not even fenced while so much effort has been given to tearing down the mining shacks you can start to understand the frustration of those of us who aren’t driven by the wilderness agenda.

It is important to see how the management style put in place has a direct impact on the landscape both physically but also within the community.

Sitting under a cedar tree eating lunch and having an honest conversation about the place we are working on was to me productive to say the least. Part of the message that I tried to convey was that this is about the past, present and future of our public lands and who and what is having a direct impact out on the ground level. It is easy to boil the issues down to access however access isn’t as easy to tackle as many would hope. It is not just about access today, but more importantly it’s about access tomorrow. Is it visual access or is it motorized access? Is it access by foot or horse? Is it access by a licensed vehicle or is it access through an OHV?

When working to build long term solutions for Gold Butte the community and historic values need to be the framework for the future management of the area. These are the values that have shaped this great country into what it is. These are the values that will preserve the place that so many have fallen in love with.

If I truly thought that the introduction of legislation and some new federal label would solve the issues that face Gold Butte I would be on board HOWEVER I am not convinced. I know, because I have seen it happen time and time again, that the people pushing for the wilderness designations and the NCA label are only using this as a stepping stone to greater restriction and loss of my rights to enjoy our public lands. It would be the begging not the end.


Whether my message sunk in or they agreed or not the day was productive and we saw some beautiful country. I would like to thank them for coming out and giving me the opportunity to show them the Gold Butte that I have fallen in love with.

 The customary shot next to the graves at Gold Butte.

The Trip Map

Deception and Disclosure

The thing about disclosure is, it’s nice when there is some.

In April of 2010, a group of people interested in the management of Gold Butte took a trip out to this beautiful country. The trip was centered on the attendance of the nation director of the BLM, Robert Abbey. We were also accompanied by other political representatives including Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins and the Mayor of Mesquite. I am a pretty simple guy and my exposure to politics was not much more than the good ol’ boys approach to getting things done. It was my impression that having the national director of the BLM out to Gold Butte was a pretty big deal. He had been the Nevada state director for a number of years and I am sure Gold Butte had come on his radar from time to time. I thought it was just a fellow Nevada man coming back to help build consensus between the groups involved. Little did I know…..

It turns out that during the time between his tenure as the Nevada State BLM Director and the National BLM Director he sat on the Board of the Friends of Nevada Wilderness. This is the parent group of the Friends of Gold Butte. This is the same group who is driving the agenda for an NCA designation, coupled with unbridled amounts of Wilderness, for our public lands and Gold butte.

Little did I know that the Good ol’ Boy system is alive and well, pushing the Wilderness agenda.

Calling BS

Growing up one of my families favorite pastimes was playing games. One of the family favorites was called “BS”. In this game you deal out all of the cards in the deck so every player has the same amount of cards. The game is started by the first player laying all the 2’s that they have face down on the table in a pile and calling out how many of the cards they laid down. The next person lays down their 3’s face down on the pile and calling how many cards they laid down. It goes around and around like this until the first person runs out of cards. However there are a few little tricks you can use to help yourself get ahead. Sometimes in the game you may not have the right cards when it comes to your turn or you might slip in a different card than you are supposed to, to try and get ahead, so you can win. However if another player suspects you of trying to slip in the wrong cards when it’s your turn the other player calls out “BS” and the player who tried to pull a fast one gets stuck with all the cards in the pile. Well this doesn’t seem much different than the politics it takes to get legislation passed, except the stakes are much higher, for all the players. 

Currently in Clark County there are a number of “conservation minded” public lands projects in the works that could potentially require congressional action. Some of these include projects in the Las Vegas Wash, Tule Springs, the Nellis Dunes and Gold Butte. When talking with our representatives and those involved with these projects they often refer to an upcoming Clark County Public Lands Bill. This future bill would bundle all of these projects into one hand for one vote. I am sure that this makes things a lot easier for our congressional representatives however when looking at the above hand there is one card that doesn’t fit.

 

At the 500,000 foot ‘Washington level’ I am sure that these projects seem like a good match. However at the local level this is like slipping in a king with three Jacks. Yes they are all good cards but should they all be bundled into one hand in the hopes of getting a little ahead in the game? 

Gold Butte is a very distinct region and requires a much different management style than the projects within the Vegas Valley. Grouping a 1,000 acre off-road facility with a 350,000 acre NCA including a proposed 133,000 acres of wilderness is BS. Creating a management tool for Gold Butte is a huge project and will take time and facts to develop it correctly. To quickly bundle it up and say an NCA is the save-all quick fix to the issues that face Gold Butte is BS. Gold Butte should not be a pawn in election year politics.

If our elected officials want to demonstrate that they are responsible representatives then when they throw down their cards with this public lands bill they should not try and pull a fast one with Gold Butte. Yes, bundling it with Nellis Dunes is most likely good political strategy, but at the price of dictating an irreparable management decision to appease the squeaky wheels of special interests?

Gold Butte is no doubt a terrific project and a comprehensive sustainable strategy needs to be developed. However rushing a half shod, imbalanced proposal built on mind-boggling bureaucracy is senseless and unrepresentative. If you want to do something positive for Gold Butte then push aside the partisan and special interest agendas and let’s get to work on defining sustainable objectives and building a management plan that suits Gold Butte and its diverse landscape on a timetable that fits the needs of Gold Butte not politics.

Political Frosting

One of the first posts that I wrote when I started savegoldbutte.com was titled “Where We Have Been.” The purpose of this post was to introduce the reader to the “Berkley Bill” ( H.R. 7132). I titled the post “Where We Have Been” because I had hoped that we had moved on from this bill. I had hoped that our political representatives had got the message the first time that this bill was introduced that we thought it was unacceptable if not offensive. Well as I continue to attend meetings and talk with our political representatives and their staff, still three years later, I can without a doubt count on someone pulling this bill out.

Here is my issue with this bill; the framework, the very heart of this bill, goes against everything that we have been working to protect. We can amend, adjust and modify the language over and over to dress up the package but the deliverable is still the same. It doesn’t matter how much political frosting you add on top of this bill, the very core of what it is designed to do goes against common sense conservation and real public lands management.

If we are going to create a bill lets start fresh and build the framework for a bill that attacks the issues at hand. Lets create a bill that deals with building a sustainable future for our public lands at Gold Butte. A solution that creates vast amounts of unreasonable wilderness, and adds more layers of bureaucratic mud to the mire of misguided political public lands management will only deepen the problem. We need to cut through the BS and write a bill that protects all aspects of public lands management and not just a narrowly focused agenda. We need upfront, in the legislation, protection for the existing roads and the off highway vehicles that we use to travel the roads. We need in the legislation the promise that these public lands will be managed for multiple use through camping, hunting, fishing, hiking and ATV access.

The fleeting promise of all these issues getting hammered out in the 3 year management process does not hold water with the public who has been deceived time and time again. We need to protect and provide a place for the public that enjoy their lands and their right to recreate within them responsibly. Remember they are our public lands.