Captain Evan Morrison, Naval Air Station Fallon reported at the last Intergovernmental Executive Committee meeting, June 28, regarding the Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization regarding the current status of the FRTC.
Although the FRTC request by the Navy was not included in the Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act, Congress did approve extending the Navy’s current withdrawal for the existing 203,000 acres for the next 25 years. That language included a directive for the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Interior to set up the IEC and hold meetings among the various stakeholders involved in the FRTC issue. The group includes representatives from several Northern Nevada Counties, nearly 20 Nevada Indian Tribes, and various state and federal agencies.
Morrison said that on June 15, the Department of Defense transmitted the fiscal Year 2022 legislative proposal requesting the modernization of the FRTC to the Armed Services committees. The
FY22 request the modernization of the ranges through the land withdrawal in the NDAA, asking to withdraw nearly 532,000 acres from the public domain, which is primarily public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The request asks to authorize 66,000 acres of non-federal acquisitions and would relocate a natural gas pipeline. Additionally, the request would improve or relocate several roads, including SR 361 (Gabbs Valley Road), Lone Tree, Sand Canyon, and Pole Line.
There are several Natural Resource issues directly addressed as part of the FRTC and the IEC process including fire management, sage grouse, hunting, and Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, and the matter of a Conservation Law Enforcement Officer. Additionally, in terms of Cultural Resources and Tribal issues, the Navy has established both a Liaison Officer and a Coordinator position who are both on staff at NAS Fallon, Navy staff continues to meet with local tribes and are in the process of taking Ethnographic and Class III pedestrian surveys, working toward programmatic and access agreements, as well as an update of the Integrated Cultural Resources Management Program.
County Commission Chairman Pete Olsen serves as the Vice-Chair of the IEC and he reported at the Commission meeting on July 1, that, “it was a good meeting and we were getting to know each other and know how this is going to work.” He said this was the second formal meeting and participants are starting to see a few weaknesses in the process in regards to the Open Meeting Law. While the federal agencies are not subject to the Nevada OML, because so many of the representatives to the committee are local elected officials, the committee is governed by the state law that was enacted to ensure that the actions and deliberations of public bodies be conducted openly. The Navy staff provides the administrative support for the group and Olsen said they don’t yet, “have a good grasp” of the law.
He also reported that Jeremy Drew, a consultant who works for Resource Concepts Inc. on behalf of the county on natural resource issues is worth his weight, and having his help on the committee and with the FRTC has been priceless. “He helps us a tremendous amount and we are fighting way above our weight with him,” said Olsen. “This thing is going to go on, and I’m reminding you guys this is something one of you will have to take over,” as he addressed fellow Commissioners, Greg Koenig and Justin Heath.
Additionally, Olsen said that the issue of a quorum was decided to be a majority of those members in attendance. There was a discussion among members that although 16 Tribes are members of the group, only four representatives are attending the meetings.
Jim Barbee, county manager also reported that during the meeting it was decided to add in Eureka County as a member to the group, bringing along Jake Tibbetts, their “very capable and overwhelmingly talented natural resources director.” He said, “This was a good accomplishment and will benefit the county and gives us a couple of people who are really strong in natural resource issues that will be front and center specifically with federal law.”
According to a letter from the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, signed by Acting Chairwoman Yvonne Mori the tribe is “dismay(ed)at the Navy’s attempt to utilize a praiseworthy Congressionally-created advisory committee to push for a highly divisive outcome: the expansion of over 600,000 acres,” of land. She said the IEC should “focus on the sole purpose of exchanging information about the natural and cultural resources at the current NAS Fallon base for the betterment of the local community.”
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