Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Congresswoman Dina Titus have just introduced the single largest conservation bill in Nevada history, The Southern Nevada Economic Development & Conservation Act (SNEDCA). The bill would designate more than 1.6 million acres of new Wilderness, including 1.3 acres in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which has been the top priority at Friends for many years.

A broad coalition of conservationists, Native Americans, sportsmen and women, elected officials and others are celebrating the Congressional vote today that denies the U.S. military its long sought-after expansions of two major facilities in Nevada, at the Fallon Naval Air Station and the Nellis Test and Training Range.

In passing the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress instead approved language that maintains both facilities at their current size for the next 25 years. All six members of the Nevada Congressional delegation voted in favor of the NDAA with no military expansions.