Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor – Subcommittee on Energy
Monday, April 11, 2011
Testimony is Support of: A.B. 307 – Requires the monitoring of the effects of certain energy development projects on wildlife
Provided by: Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife, Inc.
Larry Johnson, President Jeremy Drew, Director
(775) 772-6289 (775) 843-9109
ljohnson@blackeagleconsulting.com fshngme@aol.com
Madam Chair, members of the Committee, thank you for your time today. For the record, my name is Jeremy Drew and I serve as a Director of the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife. The Coalition is comprised of leaders from various sportsmen’s and wildlife conservation groups who represent a broad cross section of those interests statewide. We would like to go on record today in support of AB 307, and thank the bill sponsors for their hard work on putting this together.
As a life-long sportsman, I take pride in the fact that we shoulder the bulk of the financial burden when it comes to the management of wildlife in Nevada. Sportsmen-derived dollars make up over 95% of the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s (NDOW) budget. These dollars are collected directly through license and tag fees, or are match by federal funds derived by taxes on hunting and fishing goods and firearms. Additionally, each year Nevada’s sportsmen raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue through wildlife NGOs and dedicate hundreds of volunteer hours to benefit wildlife that all citizens enjoy. This user-supported systems is referred to as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and it has been the most successful model world-wide for over 100 years. This is the system that brought our state animal, the desert bighorn sheep, back from the brink of extinction in the 1950s to Nevada now being the home to more bighorn sheep than any other state in the lower 48.
Given that history of can-do attitude and proactive action, I can tell you that we face some challenges that are much bigger than we’ve ever faced before. One of them is the development and transmission of energy on public lands. Both the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service make the final decisions on the location and composition of energy projects on public lands, which comprise over 85% of Nevada’s land area. These decisions carry the potential for serious consequences for our wildlife. I say “our” wildlife because it has been made very clear that while the federal Departments have management authority on public lands, the State maintains management authority for wildlife. Therefore, the State tends to maintain the best wildlife information pertinent to these energy project decisions. As such, it is imperative that the federal agencies coordinate closely with NDOW on the siting and required mitigation actions to prevent severe and often unintended negative consequences of energy development on wildlife. This need is more important than ever with the potential for listing of the Sage-grouse as an endangered species. The result of a listing and subsequent impact on Nevada’s rural economies, sportsmen, and way of life cannot be understated!
At present, NDOW wildlife and habitat biologists, and other key staff are spending much of their time dealing with energy projects through processes established by the federal agencies. While this work is imperative, it takes them away from their every-day responsibilities and severely restricts their ability to develop proactive habitat projects to keep our state’s wildlife healthy and thriving. Currently, the NDOW staff are participating in energy projects on sportsmen-derived funding that is intended to drive the feedback loop for wildlife management and habitat improvement.
We are not asking for anything extraordinary from the energy companies with this bill. We’re simply asking them to participate in the conservation model that we’ve been so successful at implementing by helping to fund the much needed involvement of NDOW in the federal processes. From our perspective, this same approach is proven and has worked very well with the mining industry. It is what’s best for our wildlife and the long-term sustainability of the energy industry in this State, and that’s why we support A.B. 307. Thank you for your time and consideration today, we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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