Public lands and national monuments were well represented in the 2017 Session of the Nevada State Legislature. SB413, a bill sponsored by Senator Nicole Cannizzaro and that will designate a Public Lands Day in Nevada, was just signed into law by the Governor on June 1st. We'd like to thank everyone who spoke up for public lands, attended meetings, contacted their legislators, and overall made their voices heard!
In other good news, two resolutions were also passed in the Legislature! Assembly Joint Resolution 13, introduced by Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, passed the Legislature in May of 2017. This resolution states the support of the Legislature of the use of the Antiquities Act in Nevada and keeping Gold Butte and Basin and Range National Monuments protected. Now that it's passed, this resolution will serve as a strong document to uphold our National Monuments, especially under this new National Monument review and will show the Trump administration that Nevadans and our local elected officials want to keep these areas protected.
Senate Joint Resolution 12, a resolution that expresses the full support of the Nevada State Legislature to retain public lands in public hands, also passed in May! Overall, this has been a great session for public lands and we are grateful to the bill sponsors for their strong leadership for public lands and national monuments and to all of you who made this happen!