Page 1 of 1 E&E Daily story on legislation 11-18-04 7.

PUBLIC LANDS House passes Nev. wilderness, Atlantic Highlands bills Dan Berman, E&E Daily reporter The House yesterday approved the final versions of legislation to create 770,000 acre of wilderness in Nevada and create a new classification for conservation of 2 million acres in the Northeast. Under suspension of the rules, the House passed H.R. 4593, sending it to President Bush for his expected signature. The bill, to establish about 770,000 acres of wilderness in Lincoln County, Nev., north of Las Vegas, has drawn criticism from environmentalists for provisions creating utility corridors as well as for not including some areas recommended for wilderness designation. The bill does not include portions of the Pahranagat Range and the East Mormon Mountains area but would allow utility corridors for water transfers from eastern Nevada rural areas to Las Vegas. The two half-mile-wide utility corridors of 256 miles and 192 miles for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Lincoln County Water District are designed to ensure continuing water flows to Las Vegas given the ongoing Colorado River drought and decreasing water levels in Lake Mead. It also allows for the possible development of groundwater resources in eastern Nevada. Over 98 percent of Lincoln County is owned by the federal government, and the bill provides for the federal government to sell off 100,000 acres in Lincoln County. Some environmentalists oppose the sale because it would include 13,000 acres in the Mojave Desert that a federal court blocked from auction earlier this year. "We succeeded in raising the private property tax base a modest amount while protecting an unprecedented amount of land," said sponsor Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.).