the books giving the agency greater control.
"This will not serve the best interests
of Nevada in the long run," Morros said. "We've
given the federal government all the ammunition they
need. They can go to Congress and say they tried to
comply with state law and got kicked in the teeth for
it." Turnipseed, who until last week was holding 99
sole and 18 joint applications from the BLM for stock
water rights, said the agency could begin preventing
rangeland improvements.
"It was a hollow victory for Nevada
because it means the end of range improvements,"
Turnipseed said.
Rhoads said instead of creating problems for
Nevada, the law will create more problems for the federal
government as more states duplicate Nevada's water law.
"I've already had a couple calls from
some of the other western states about getting this
passed in their legislatures," Rhoads said.
And Rhoads said Nevada has nothing to fear
from Congress because several western-state senators and
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representatives hold
influential positions on key committees and
subcommittees.
Gene Gustin, chairman of Elko County's Public
Land Use Advisory Commission, said any retaliation by the
federal government would only strengthen the resolve of
those advocating more local control over public lands.
"I can see their concerns," Gustin
said about the position of Morros and Turnipseed.
"We say the water belongs to Nevada and the BLM says
the land belongs to them and they [the BLM] won't allow
ranchers to put in any infrastructure to get the water
from there to here." Gustin said Morros and
Turnipseed have got to force Nevada's right to make its
own decisions, even though 87 percent of the state is
managed by the federal government.
"This is why the very question of state
sovereignty has got to be addressed," Gustin said.
"If you can't move it [water] across their ground,
then what have you got?"
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