by Kimberly Padilla-Estrada

An application for the renewal of land occupancy with proposed additional expansions for Nellis Air Force Base’s training range in Southern Nevada has been submitted to the Bureau of Land Management. Currently, the Nevada Test and Training Range consists of approximately 2.95 million acres of land and the expansions would additionally provide about 300,000 acres. The proposed expansions have raised economical, cultural and environmental concerns throughout Southern Nevada’s communities.

The current legislation that appropriates this land for testing and training use is due to expire in 2021. Through the application process for renewal and expansion of authority for this land, the Air Force is obligated to provide a Legislative Environmental Impact Studies (LEIS) report that states how the continued use of the land and any expansions would subsequently affect this environment and the surrounding communities. The Air Force has published a draft LEIS on this project’s website. In the final LEIS, the Air Force must also provide data on public opinion. The collection of this data started in the fall of 2016 with a series of public scoping meetings.

The public scoping meetings were held in Beatty, Tonopah, Caliente, Alamo and North Las Vegas. These meetings included a slide presentation by the Air Force on their proposed plans of action or “alternatives" and allotted time for public comments. In these meetings, three main concerns were addressed by public attendees. The first relating to the effect that this expansion might have on Beatty’s budding tourism economy, the second relating to the further damage that would occur to this Native American culturally and historically relevant site and the third relating to the direct impacts the expansion would have on wildlife and the health of the environment.

Since the end of its last major mining operation, Beatty’s economy has been on a steady decline. As a result, it has turned to tourism to create a regular revenue income. Today, its tourism economy heavily relies on hiking and biking trails. In 2014, it was announced that a massive biking trail project fully funded by the non-profit, Saving Toads through Off-Road Racing and Mining - Oasis Valley (STORM-OV), would be located near the town. This project’s trails have had great success for the town, including the annual Beatty Mountain Bike Festival. The proposed expansion on the southwestern side of the Nevada Test and Training Range would interfere with a trail proposed near the town that could potentially further the economic success Beatty’s biking trails have had so far.

The expansion on the eastern side of the range would directly damage areas that are culturally imperative to Native Americans in Southern Nevada. The area that the testing range currently occupies has already caused great loss for 17 tribes representing the Southern Paiute, Western Shoshone, Owens Valley Paiute/Shoshone and Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. This land is the birthplace of these tribes and holds great significance as well as responsibility for these Native people. The proposal to expand into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge poses a great threat specifically to the Southern Paiute who formed the Nuwuvi Working Group along with the Chemehuevi tribes to reaffirm ancestral ties to the Spring Mountain Recreational areas in this refuge.

Along with damage to Native culture, the expansion into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge would have negative impacts on wildlife in this region. The Nevada Test and Training Range currently overlaps with a significant portion of the refuge but, according to KSNV News3LV, the proposed expansion would include 266,000 acres managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services for the bighorn sheep. There is also great concern regarding how the desert tortoise and other desert creatures may be impacted as well.

The full LEIS draft report, which includes over 1,000 pages, goes into full details about these potential impacts and many others. To continue communication with the public and to provide further comprehension of this report and the proposed actions, Nellis Air Force Base will hold a second series of public meetings starting late January 2018. Attendance of these meetings is crucial to fully understanding the impacts of these proposed expansions and to voice opinions as residents and supporters of these Southern Nevada communities.

Kimberly Padrilla-Estrada is the Environmental Justice/Mining Accountability Fellow with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN).