Letter to Senator Harry Reid and Secretary of the Interior Ken
Salazar, regarding
Responsible Development of Renewable Energy in Nevada and across the West
February 16, 2010
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February 16, 2010 The Honorable Harry Reid The Honorable Ken Salazar February 16, 2010 RE: Responsible Development of Renewable Energy in Nevada and across the West Dear Senator Reid and Secretary Salazar: The groups below represent millions of hunters and anglers in both Nevada and across the western United States. We are writing to request a meeting with both of you to discuss how the sportsmen’s community can work with Congress and the Department to sustain vital fish and wildlife populations in Nevada and across the West while responsibly developing this region’s vast public land renewable energy resources. Given the state’s importance as a leader in renewable energy development, we recommend the meeting be held in Reno, Nevada perhaps during the Easter recess. Topics of interest for sportsmen at this meeting include creating a permitting and leasing process for renewable energy projects; creating a dedicated revenue stream to ensure damages to fish and wildlife habitats are appropriately avoided, minimized, and mitigated; project siting and development practices; and ensuring that state fish and wildlife agencies have sufficient resources to manage fish and wildlife populations while energy leasing, development and transmission is occurring. Such measures are essential to maintaining the flow of billions of dollars in economic benefits generated from hunting, fishing, and wildlife related recreation in Nevada and other western public land states. We appreciate the Secretary’s intentions to better balance conventional and renewable energy production with fish, wildlife and habitat conservation, and Senator Reid’s commitment to both renewable energy development and conservation. The hunting and angling community is supportive of responsible increases in renewable energy production from public lands so long as they do not degrade fish and wildlife, water resources, and hunting and fishing opportunities. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss these issues with you. Thank you for your consideration.
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