Happy May Nevada Cattlemen and Women!
There is a lot going on policy wise lately that has impacts on cattle production. I’ll start with the ongoing Nevada Legislative Session. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association (NCA) recently held our Legislative Breakfast in Carson City and had the opportunity to speak with legislators on several different bill that are important to livestock producers. We would like to thank the legislators that made time to stop by and hear what our Association’s priorities are.
Here’s a brief summary of where a few bills stand with about a month remaining in the Legislative Session. Assembly Bill 102, which NCA opposed, proposed to ban coyote hunting competitions in Nevada and was not scheduled for a vote and therefore “died”. Assembly Joint Resolution 3 that would have enshrined the right to a clean and healthy environment, pure water, clean air, healthy ecosystems, and a stable climate into Nevada’s Constitution also missed the vote deadline and can be considered dead. NCA supported Assembly Bill 91 which would allow people on public lands to replace their damaged well without the need to file a change in place of use application with the State Engineer, so long as the replacement well is located no more than 300 feet from the original well. This exemption is currently available for well owners on private lands but not on public lands. We also saw Senate Bill 90, which would designate wild horses as the “State Horse” of Nevada, pass through the Nevada Senate and now heads to the Assembly.
At this point in time several bills (both good and bad) that NCA has provided testimony on are continuing their way through the process. NCA is gearing up to respond accordingly as these bills move from the Assembly to the Senate or vice versa for approval.
There’s also a lot to talk about this month on the federal side of things as well. Recently we’ve seen a drug only intended for use in animals, xylazine, showing up in communities across the United States. Xylazine is being mixed together with other illegal drugs to create a concoction sure to give you a visit to emergency room or worse, the morgue. As many of you are aware, xylazine or “Rompun” is an important animal health drug that acts as a sedative and local anesthetic which can be used in procedures on many different large animals. Due to its recent illegal use in humans, efforts were underway to classify it as a Schedule III drug which would have place severely restrictive regulations on its use and create a liability headache for veterinarians around the country.
However, NCA and other stakeholders were able to work with Senator Cortez-Masto on the now introduced Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. The Act, if passed, would define the appropriate use of xylazine in animals as licit and all human use of the drug as illicit. Transporting or selling xylazine for human use would fall under penalties associated with a Schedule III drug, allowing law enforcement agencies to punish those involved in illegally procuring or using xylazine while maintaining the legitimate use of xylazine for horses, cattle, and other animal species. NCA would like to Senator Cortez-Masto for working with us to find a commonsense solution to the issue that does not punish our industry and veterinarians. We hope for a speedy passage of the bill.
On the federal land management agency front, the Bureau of Land Management is currently proposing a rule that would make significant changes to the agency’s authority under the Federal Land Management Policy Act. Oddly enough it was crafted internally at the highest levels of the agency without input from anyone, including Nevada BLM personnel responsible for the management of millions of acres in our state. If approved, the rule would clarify that conservation is a “use” equal to all other multiple uses on public lands. The goal of this clarification would be to introduce the concept of conservation leases on public land, described as a way to allow surface disturbing activities or Non-Governmental Organizations to lease landscapes for compensatory mitigation or other restoration activities. While BLM maintains that conservation would not be prioritized over other uses, proof will be in the pudding.
The proposed rule also amends existing Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) regulations to “give priority to the designation and protection of ACECs”. The rule would emphasize ACECs as the principal designation for protecting landscape intactness and habitat connectivity.
NCA looks forward to defending livestock grazing as one of the most important conservation tools available and will have the rule on our priority list throughout the duration of the approval process.
This is just a snapshot of some of the work NCA is doing on your behalf. If anyone has any questions, concerns, or input on the above or any other issue please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at nca@nevadabeef.org or (775) 738-9214.
by Martin Paris, NCA Executive Director