BLM Begins Northeast County “Re-Engagement” At MTAB

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) furthered its ongoing process of “re-engaging” with the communities of northeastern Clark County last week. BLM Las Vegas Field Office Manager Gayle Marrs-Smith made an appearance at the Moapa Town Advisory Board (MTAB) meeting on Tuesday, July 26 and gave a brief presentation to the board and the Moapa residents assembled there.

It was the first public meeting attended by BLM officials in the northeast Clark County region since the agency’s standoff with supporters of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy in April 2014. Since that time, BLM personnel have not been allowed to conduct any work or operations in the region due to safety and security concerns.

Marrs-Smith said that the past two years have been difficult for the regional BLM staff because of the amount of work that was needed in the region and not able to be done.
“It has been a long two years,” she said. “And it has been rough for us. We have gotten way behind on our work. Now we want to go back out and get back engaged. But we want to do it with the communities’ support.”

The MTAB meeting was the first in a series of public meetings that will take the BLM officials across all of the communities of northeast Clark County, Marrs-Smith said. Next week, similar presentations will be made to the Mesquite City Council, the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board and to the Bunkerville Town Advisory Board.

County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who was in attendance at the meeting, told board members that she had urged BLM officials to come back and engage in a positive dialog with the northeast county community residents.
“This is a big step for the BLM to come back,” Kirkpatrick said. “I gave my word to work together and collaborate with them for the best interests of the community.”

The first concern voiced by MTAB members was regarding flood control in the Saltbrush Drive area of Warm Springs. The major flood of 2014 had breached an old agricultural flood levee that had traditionally kept the river in its channel in that area. The flood levee is located on BLM land. It was thought the levee had been weakened by recent BLM efforts to remove salt cedar from the banks and restore native vegetation to the area. Since the breach occurred, the neighborhood has been subject to serious flooding each time it rains.

Marrs-Smith said that BLM engineers and other agency officials had toured the area with the neighbors and had reported back their findings.
“To fix the problem, we are proposing both short term and long term actions,” she said.
In the short term, BLM crews planned to shore up the breached levee with rip rap materials. They would also repair the road that accesses the area, Marrs-Smith said. It was thought that this would slow down the flood waters for the time being at least, she said.

Over the long term, however, plans are being made to build a new levee, to the east of the existing earthen structure, which would be adjacent to the current property owners. This solution would be more costly and take more time; but it would be more of a permanent solution, Marrs-Smith said.
“Those kinds of projects are not cheap,” she said. “But we think we can find funding through one-time funding or through some SNPLMA funding.”

Marrs-Smith said that BLM officials would be coming back to the MTAB at a future date with a full presentation of the proposal.
With the agency’s return, BLM staff would also be focusing on a long list of overdue items in the Gold Butte region, Marrs-Smith said. These would be approached in three different categories which included Land Management, Public Health and Safety, and Community Outreach, she said.

Under the category of Land Management, the agency would be busy in eradicating invasive species along the Muddy River; managing cultural resources, specifically ancient petroglyphs and rock art; conducting a biological inventory; and assessing and addressing maintenance needs on the 500 miles of roads throughout the area.

In Public Safety category, BLM staff had already made repairs to the Virgin Peak repeater, a vital piece of communications infrastructure to support emergency response in the remote region. In addition, the agency would be doing fuels management for fire control as well as roads monitoring projects.

Finally, in the category of Community Outreach, the Las Vegas Field Office is planning an open house in early September at the Mesquite City Hall, Marrs-Smith said. In this event, a panel of BLM experts and administrators would be available to answer questions.
“It will be a chance for the northeast communities to come and ask questions and have a dialog with the BLM,” Marss-Smith said.

Marrs-Smith opened the floor to the public to ask questions or make comments. But there was little input from those in attendance.

MTAB member Ryan Udall asked if there were any plans to address flood control issues, similar to those in Warm Springs, which also exist in the Meadow Valley Wash area.
Kirkpatrick responded that this was the start of communications between the BLM and county flood control staff on those issues. She recommended that a round table meeting take place bringing the neighbors and residents together with the various government agencies to discuss the specifics of those problems and propose plans for solutions.

MTAB member Jamie Shakespear asked if there were any plans for closures to areas or roadways in the Gold Butte area.
Marrs-Smith responded that the route designation document that was adopted in 2007 in partnership with the communities seemed to be working just fine.
“We went out there on a field trip last month and the roads we saw looked pretty good,” she said. “Any new incursions that we find will be restored back to the natural landscape. But otherwise, our decision of 2007 stays in effect. We are planning no closures or changes to that.”

Marrs-Smith acknowledged that there were rumors about an impending possible Presidential proclamation of the area as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act. But the agency has little control or influence over that process, she said.
“The President of the United States is the only one that can make that kind of proclamation,” she said. “Our office can’t lobby on such issues or be involved in them.”

“It is also important to note that the President cannot designate additional Wilderness,” Marrs-Smith added. “That has to come through Congress.”