Today, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) issued the following statement after the United States Department of the Interior announced its final greater sage-grouse land-use plans, the regulations that will limit the use of over sixty million acres of federal land throughout ten western states, including Nevada:
"This is not a win for Nevada. Even though the Fish and Wildlife Service has decided the greater sage-grouse doesn't merit protections under the Endangered Species Act, the Department of the Interior's final "federal plans' pose major threats to many Nevadans' long-term way of life and success.
"This has been an issue of the Department of the Interior using the threat of a listing to get what it really wanted all along: limiting Nevadans' access to millions of acres of land equal to the size of the state of West Virginia. At the end of the day, Big Government continues to tighten its grip at the expense of rural America's future, especially in Nevada.
"Rather than addressing the real threats to sage-grouse habitat in our state - wildfire, the spread of invasive species, and wild horse and burro mismanagement -- these new regulations simply restrict Nevadans' access to millions of acres of public lands. Nevadans hate to see the federal government further limit the use of their public lands. I will continue to fight these unnecessary restrictions and work with our Congressional delegation on policies that protect our environment, grow our economy, and support our western ways of life," said Senator Dean Heller.