Foes of Black Rock Desert bill fear feds moving too fast

RENO - Opponents of a federal plan to protect the Black Rock Desert say the government is moving too fast on the proposal.

Sen. Richard Bryan's desert protection bill has yet to pass Congress but the Department of Interior is already taking preliminary steps to prepare for the designation of the national conservation area.

Department officials have asked the Bureau of Land Management in Winnemucca to estimate the staffing and rough out the budget that would be needed to plan for the conservation area.

''It makes sense to have a plan in place,'' BLM assistant field manager Les Boni told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The bill authored by Bryan, D-Nev., would protect an estimated 1.2 million acres. It has passed the Senate but not the House and is opposed by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

Opponents fear it could end up restricting access and future mining in the area.

''Here's a measure being pushed by a handful of environmental groups, which is opposed by 16 Nevada counties, the Nevada Association of Counties, the governor, area residents and the people who use the desert,'' said Donna Potter, an opponent of the designation.

''The bill hasn't even passed and the government is already planning for its implementation. It's a federal land grab that they seem to think is a slam dunk,'' she said.

The measure would designate more than 700,000 acres of the Black Rock Desert as a National Conservation Area and would designate 11 other parcels as Wilderness Areas.

The desert, known for its emigrant trails and the annual Burning Man Festival, is about 100 miles northeast of Reno.

Bryan's bill is backed by the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and other environmental groups.