The first half of June included a notification that the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) had not moved forward with the Department of Defense’s  Fallon NAS/ Nellis AFB training expansion request.   There are a few reasons cited for the opposition, including the Nellis range impacting the desert tortoise and the Fallon range impacting the bighorn sheep.   This is an example where the dedicated environmental groups are allied with the Off-Road community to achieve the same goal.  That goal is to stop the removal of land from the public inventory. PMNTA does embrace many of the concerns cited, specifically around the damage to the wildlife and their habitat, however the focus of  the Pine Nut Mountains Trails Association is to stop public land closures and restrictions in Douglas, Washoe, Lyon, Churchill, Mineral and Mono Counties. 

Irrespective of the reason for the removal-

 Public Lands are Public, Access is Access

Before we start our victory lap, there are only two possibilities as we move forward with the 2021 funding/withdrawal request.

• The House Armed Services Committee (HASC), accepts the non-inclusion from the SASC, and the inclusion for 2021 is dropped.
• The HASC includes the withdrawal and the House and Senate bills go to reconciliation between the chambers, with the inclusion for 2021 funding hinged on that process.

We cannot fall into a false sense of security on this issue,  all the heavy lifting for the withdrawal has been done; and while this is struggling to make it out of the 116^th Congress, everyone needs to understand that should we be successful during this session, it is probable that it will be included after the elections and the new Congress is seated.  

PNMTA members and the club specifically worked to stop the expansion, including site visits with state and federal stakeholders, an aggressive letter writing campaign and attendance at the Navy’s public meetings.

We will keep a close eye on this to be sure that we are doing what we can to influence the decisions moving forward. PNMTA is prepared to counter those who may take advantage of this decision to push harder for a more restrictive designation of the targeted area by limiting access – under the guise of habitat or wilderness.

Saturday, May 20 6:00 am to 10:00 am

Meet at the end of Johnson Lane

More details to come.

Member and Guests, this is a reminder that our Spring Cleanup will take place this Sunday, May 3^rd. Starting at 09:00.

Thank you to Kevin Templeton and Carson Motorsports for providing Pizza and Allen Alexander for the donation which will be used for water, etc.

We will meet just off Pinenut Road on Pinenut II near the ‘kiddie’ riding area opposite the RC Airport near the Douglas Disposal Transfer Station. Donnie Williams and Douglas disposal have provided a dumpster for us to deposit our ‘treasures’ into and we again thank them for participating.

I will be out early with signs, maps, a table and water. I would ask that everyone come prepared with non-disposable water containers, Camelback type setups etc. for their personal use. Please have cell phones, GPS’s, sunscreen or whatever you will need to accomplish this task. Please take responsibility for members of your group!

I will have maps showing the locations of where garbage can be found, and as Doug had mentioned, this looks to be a somewhat light day. The 4×4 group will be seeping main trails to the north, and we will have locations down south in the County.

Please, Please Please, do provide a head count so we can have an idea how much pizza to order! You may reply to me directly to: Pointman0853@yahoo.com, or by text at 775-901-3319.

We look forward to a great community effort on behalf of keeping our Nevada Public Lands clean for all this Sunday, thanks!

George Swetland
PNMTA Secretary