Number: 1998-17
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, operates 348 reservoirs, 58 hydroelectric projects, and more than 300 recreation sites, while holding title for the American people to roughly eight million acres of federal public lands in the 17 western states; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation has defined as its mission “to manage, develop, and protect water related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public,” and has committed itself to “continue to improve its management of water and related resources in a manner that is ecologically sound and that promotes habitat quality, species health and biological diversity of the West”; and
WHEREAS, in 1933, Congress appropriated funds to authorize the Humboldt Project on the Humboldt River in Nevada and, at that time, authorized the Bureau of Reclamation to build the Rye Patch Dam and purchase 30,000 acres of riparian lands 120 miles upriver from the dam that are adjacent to the town of Battle Mountain, in Lander County, Nevada; and
WHEREAS, the 30,000 acres of lands that came into federal public ownership as a part of the Humboldt Project included the Argenta Marsh, which comprised thousands of acres of perennial wetland marsh created and sustained by the natural meandering of the Humboldt River, and additional thousands of acres of naturally irrigated hay meadows and willows, all of which provided habitat for shorebirds, songbirds, waterfowl, furbearers, mule deer, and resident trout, including Lahontan cutthroat trout; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation subsequently drained and ditched the Argenta Marsh, defoliated and continues to defoliate with herbicides the willows and cottonwoods in riparian areas, channelized 15 miles of the Humboldt River, and has since annually entered into contracts with an irrigation district that allow livestock to denude resurgent grasses and woody plants; and
WHEREAS, families in Battle Mountain and other northern Nevada communities generally lack nearby waterbodies that they have public access to and can use as a community resource for fishing, hunting, trapping, picnicking, and other water-based recreation; and
WHEREAS, there is a high potential for restoring the natural health of the Argenta Marsh by such methods as replanting riparian areas with native woody vegetation, refilling the channels and breaching the dikes that force the Humboldt River into an artificial course, and modifying livestock grazing to make it consistent with full restoration of the wetland marshes and water quality; and
WHEREAS, large mines in the Humboldt River drainage are discharging in excess of 100,000 gallons per minute into the river system, which has made it even more feasible to recharge the Argenta Marsh hydrological system; and
WHEREAS, the Nevada Division of Wildlife believes that restoration of the Argenta Marsh could allow an extensive native trout fishery to be restored and aid in the recovery of the endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation could showcase restoration of the Argenta Marsh as a significant national demonstration of its intent to operate projects in ways that are naturally sustainable, meet project needs, and benefit local communities and the American people; and
WHEREAS, rather than undertaking restoration of the Argenta Marsh, the Bureau of Reclamation has instead recently announced its intent to consider transferring title to the federal public lands that comprised the Argenta Marsh to a private irrigation district, and has begun a public evaluation of the environmental impacts of such a transfer;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 19-22, 1998, in Alexandria, Virginia, strongly questions any proposal to transfer federal public land and water resources to non-federal interests that fail to result in net benefits to the environment, recreational opportunities or fail to provide a fair price for the resources; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the Bureau of Reclamation to retain in federal public ownership all title and rights to the Argenta Marsh and adjacent public lands that comprise the Humboldt Project, and if the Bureau decides that it will not or cannot retain such ownership, it should transfer title to the Argenta Marsh and adjacent public lands to another federal agency; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the Bureau of Reclamation to act to aggressively restore the natural values of the Argenta Marsh and adjacent federal public lands and the trout fishery of the Humboldt River; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the Bureau of Reclamation to work with citizens in Lander County, Nevada and other nearby communities to establish public access and use of a restored Argenta Marsh and Humboldt River for fishing, hunting, trapping, and picnicking, and water-based recreation.