Nevada Assembly Opposes Navy Modernization Plan

Staff report -- Fallon, Nev., County Manager, Jim Barbee reported at the County Commission meeting on Monday, that the Nevada Assembly overwhelmingly voted last week on a resolution to oppose the expansion and modernization for the Fallon Range Training Complex. In the second regularly scheduled meeting of April, Barbee gave his update on key legislation that could affect Churchill County. The Naval Air Warfighting Development Center at NAS Fallon uses the FRTC for critical training that can only be done in this location. Several Navy personnel refer to NAS Fallon and the unique ranges associated with the facility as “the aircraft carrier in the desert.” For the past year, ending in February when Churchill County submitted its final comments to the Navy, both the Navy and commissioners have conducted numerous meetings to gain additional input into the range modernization. During December, Navy representative visited seven cities affected by the expansion and delivered their assessment on which plan would be best for expanding the training range. The proposed expansion, which was first introduced in August 2016, covers a five-county area and includes airspace, land ranges, and electronic systems used primarily for air and ground training activities. The Navy also proposes to renew existing public land withdrawal of 202,849 acres that expires in November 2021. Barbee said the committee first voted to oppose expansion followed by the full Assembly. He said the State Senate is expected to discuss the Fallon expansion. Assembly Joint Resolution 7 is non-binding as is AJR 2 that affects the U.S. Air Force. The Assembly also opposes any expansion for Nellis Air Force Base east of Las Vegas. In AJR 2, lawmakers oppose expanding the test and training range into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which sponsors say is the largest wildlife refuge in the contiguous U.S. Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen, D-Las Vegas, said public lands should remain in public hands. Barbee said expansion concerns first came under a public lands issue from the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining committee. Both Barbee and Commissioner Bus Scharmann said although the county has been in discussion with the Navy over specific concerns with the expansion, Churchill County is supportive of the U.S. Navy and its training requirements and wants to be a good neighbor.   Keep up with all that’s happening – check the Community Calendar at https://www.thefallonpost.org/events/ Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon.