News Release Archive

TITLE TRANSFER PROCESS UNDERWAY FOR CARSON LAKE AND PASTURE

ASSISTANT INTERIOR SECRETARY RALEY, GOVERNOR GUINN, SENATOR REID INITIATE PROCESS AT CEREMONY

Media Contact: Jeffrey McCracken, 916-978-5100, JMCCRACKEN@mp.usbr.gov

For Release: October 28, 2004

The Department of the Interior and the State of Nevada held a signing ceremony today in the Governor's Office at the State Capitol Building in Carson City, Nevada. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Bennett W. Raley, Nevada Senator Harry Reid, and Nevada Governor Kenny C. Guinn participated in the signing of a document that begins the formal process of transferring Carson Lake and Pasture from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, to the State of Nevada.

"I want to express my personal appreciation to Governor Guinn and Senator Reid for their exceptional efforts in bringing about this long-awaited transfer. Governor Guinn and his staff have pursued this transfer vigorously and worked diligently and cooperatively with Interior to iron out the outstanding issues," said Assistant Secretary Raley. "Senator Reid is to be commended for setting in place the legislation that has made this transfer possible. He has also contributed to the betterment of the wetlands by obtaining a $2.5 million appropriation for Carson Lake and Pasture which will be available to the State of Nevada once the transfer is completed."

The proposal to transfer the federally owned Carson Lake and Pasture from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, to the State of Nevada was developed pursuant to Section 206(e) of Public Law 101-618, enacted in 1990. Carson Lake and Pasture is a 30,000-acre wetland within Reclamation's Newlands Project, some 60 miles east of Carson City. The wetland is a component of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and is one of the most valuable in northern Nevada. The wetland hosts thousands of waterfowl during fall migration, providing breeding and migratory habitat for a large variety of shorebirds, ducks, and other water birds.

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