The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District filed a notice
on February 24, 2012 in the Federal Register of its intent to do a revision
of the Carson City District Resource Management Plan put in place in 2001.



The first step in the process was local meetings to seek public comments
to identify issues and concerns that should be analyzed. One of the six
public scoping meetings was held on March 13 at the Fallon Convention Center.
The only notice of the meeting was printed in the public notices section of
the paper, which few people read. It was basically a "secret" meeting.



This was the start of a four year process to complete the revision which
has the potential to severely limit access and use of almost all of the BLM
managed public lands in northern Nevada. The issues list includes every excuse
the government can find for taking a particular piece of land out of use - for
example protection of the sage grouse has maps showing the sage grouse on vast
areas of public land in Nevada. In other BLM regions where this type of revision
is farther along almost all trails became off limits to off road vehicles of all
types. This means you get to carry your Elk out on your back. In other areas
almost all shooting was banned. This prompted the NRA to file a protest letter
in Opposition of BLM's Resource Management Plan for Recreational Shooting Ban
on the Ironwood National Monument because BLM claims shooting is a “resource-
harming” activity. Note that huge public comment against the shooting ban was
simply ignored by the BLM without comment. They just went ahead and banned
it anyway, and the NRA protest letter also threatened legal action. If we don't
get ahead of this process in our district we may be left
with no recourse other than to litigate on the back-end.



The strategy of the BLM appears to be to use numerous "issues" to generate a
complex web of restrictions and bans that effectively take public lands away
from the public. Shown on a myriad of separate maps the individual restrictions
don't look that bad. When all of the maps are overlaid you find out that there
is nothing left that is not restricted, and the restrictions get so complex
that it becomes virtually impossible to comply. That is tyranny.



There are still two chances to have input at this scoping stage. First, BLM
is on the agenda at the County Commission meeting April 18th at 1:15 p.m.
at the County Chambers, 155 N. Taylor. We need to attend that meeting in force.



Second, until April 29th the BLM is still accepting
comments - just fill out and print the online comment form which is available at:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field.html
Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to BLM_NV_CCDO_RMP@blm.gov

or be mail to the BLM at 5665 Morgan Mill Rd, Carson City, NV 89701, or faxed

to 775-885-6147, both Attn: Carson City RMP. Other BLM links are below

including more direct links to the comment form and other information.



Lets let both the BLM and the County Commissioners know that we don't like

how this has started, we want well publicized notices
of all future meetings and
comment periods, we want the BLM to minimize bans and restrictions to only

those few cases with a truly compelling need, and we want the BLM to prepare

composite maps so citizens can grasp the full and complete impact of all proposals.



Retaining access to our public lands is essential both for our own use and for
the economic vitality of Fallon and Churchill County. Please invest some time
to make your voice heard. Lets make it an outcry.

Although I've heard it all my life, it's often attributed to Ronald Reagan...

"The worst thing you can ever hear is, 'We're from the government and we're here to help you.'"

BLM is definitely in that catagory, as are most government agencies.

L.W.

If I were still living in the Carson City area you would certainly see me at the meetings. I will at least write them and let them know my displeasure. It is bad enough that I haven't drawn a tag in the 7 years that I have lived here but to continue to lose our public land and limit the hunting even further is not going to help.

As for the restricting or banning recreational shooting, it is happening here in Clark County as well. I understand why it's happening though. It doesn't take but one time to drive out to shooting areas and see all the junk that people haul out and then shoot it and leave it. TV's, Computers, other appliances, glass bottles, and all sorts of other garbage. It is these people that ruin it for the rest of us. If people were to police up their trash and take it home or to the dump and leave the land as it was found we wouldn't be banned from shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
If I were still living in the Carson City area you would certainly see me at the meetings. I will at least write them and let them know my displeasure. It is bad enough that I haven't drawn a tag in the 7 years that I have lived here but to continue to lose our public land and limit the hunting even further is not going to help.

As for the restricting or banning recreational shooting, it is happening here in Clark County as well. I understand why it's happening though. It doesn't take but one time to drive out to shooting areas and see all the junk that people haul out and then shoot it and leave it. TV's, Computers, other appliances, glass bottles, and all sorts of other garbage. It is these people that ruin it for the rest of us. If people were to police up their trash and take it home or to the dump and leave the land as it was found we wouldn't be banned from shooting.

This is a huge complaint of mine. Simply make it illegal to shoot at glass bottles or any other junk.

Another solution: charge a yearly fee to shoot. If you don't have the permit, you get fined big time. The annual fee is then used to clean up the crap.

Everytime I see someone shooting I ask them to clean up their brass and targets. Everyone I talk to claims to pick up their trash. Amazing then, how much trash is out there.

The NRA is doing a disservice on this subject by waiving the trash issue as a non-issue. It is a huge issue.

Go to the meetings and contribute. It may not have an effect, but then the new "rules" can be appealled. The Forest Circus in Baker County Oregon closed 3500 miles of roads, effectively shutting us out of the forest for firewood, mushrooms, huckleberries and hunting. Our congressional representative, Greg Walden, got involved and convinced them to start over and take the input of the citizens into account. It may work.