Wilderness at war

Another battle in a neverending war has begun, with residents of west central Nevada riled up over proposed plans for protecting the land.

Reporter Jeff DeLong (jdelong@rgj.com) writes that, “Environmentalists pushing a proposal to label as wilderness nearly 700,000 acres in Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties said they're just initiating discussions. But residents suspicious of them and federal representatives are mobilizing to block a proposal they said could damage their economy and cherished way of life.”

Some 700 people turned out at a meeting in Smith Valley, most of them against the whole idea. Smith Valley’s population is just over 1,400, so around 50 percent of its residents showed up. That’s a lot of suspicion.

Delong’s report continues: "Basically, the commission has said we don't want wilderness, we don't need wilderness. We'll just see if that sticks," Mineral County Commissioner Jerrie Tipton said, adding that she and others are worried coming changes could affect mining, outdoor recreation and military training, which are all important to the economy.

Well … 15 years to 20 years from now, when there are 150,000 people living in the three counties — up from today’s 61,000 — Tipton’s constituents going to need wilderness, and want wilderness.

Tipton and the others should invest a hundred bucks in gasoline and drive north to the Truckee Meadows, where they can see what off-roaders have done to the base of Peavine Peak, what dirt bikes have done in the hills above Spanish Springs, look at the trash that trashy people dump in the hills because they’re too hillbilly-stupid to find the public landfill.

The lizards are dead or gone, along with the bees, birds and sagebrush.

There’s one thing that every group of people creates, everywhere in the world: a damaged ecosystem.

Nevada needs a little wilderness. Now.

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