HOUSE VOTE WOULD RESTORE PROHIBITION ON SALE/TRANSFER OF WILD HORSES
The House is scheduled this week to vote on H.R. 249, which would amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to "prohibit the sale or transfer for commercial product processing of any free-roaming horse or burro on U.S. public lands."
The bill would further repeal the provisions permitting the sale of certain excess animals or their remains, and excluding from criminal fine or imprisonment a person who processes or permits the processing of such animals' remains.
Nevada is home to half the nation's wild horses. The continuing overpopulation of wild horses has caused a decrease in the amount of available habitat and jeopardizes the long-term welfare of wildlife populations, ranching and the sagebrush habitat in the state.
Due to ongoing drought conditions
and populations larger than the land can naturally sustain,
animals in Nevada are often not strong candidates for adoption
due to their ill health and feral nature. The sale of excess
horses, for purposes other than slaughter, is often the best and
most humane means of managing wild horse populations and
ensuring a balanced rangeland ecosystem.
EMERGENCY WAR SUPPLEMENTAL CONFERENCE MOVES FORWARD; ULTIMATE FATE OF COUNTY FUNDING UNCERTAIN
Last Thursday, the House officially appointed its conferees on the war supplemental appropriations bill, joining the Senate appointed prior to the Easter recess.
The conference began today, with troop withdrawal language in both bill versions remaining a sticking point between President Bush and Congressional Democrats. The conferees will begin work to resolve differences between the withdrawal language in the two bills.
Also included in the bill is funding for several domestic programs, including the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which compensates counties with a high percentage of federal land ownership for losses in property tax revenue. The provision included in the Senate version of the bill would provide full funding for the program for the first time since its inception.
Also included in the bill is reauthorization language for the Secure Rural Schools Self Determination Act, which expired in September 2006. The program provides payments to over 600 counties and 4400 school districts in 39 states.
Under a revised formula, Nevada would see its share of Secure Rural Schools funding increase over the next five years, from approximately $500,000 to nearly $5 million.
Additionally, the bill includes $500 million for Western wildfire suppression.
The President has vowed to veto any
spending bill containing troop withdrawal provisions. So
far, Democrats have not backed down on insisting on the
inclusion of such language, which would set the stage for a
second or revised supplemental bill post-veto.
WALKER RIVER PAIUTE TRIBE WITHDRAWS FROM YUCCA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY
This past week, the Walker River Paiute Tribe of west central Nevada passed a resolution to formally withdraw from participating in the federal environmental impact study for the proposed Mina Rail Corridor route to Yucca Mountain.
The Tribe previously agreed to go forward with the study for the proposed rail route which would have created a new rail line through the Walker River Paiute Reservation for the sole purpose of transporting nuclear waste to the federal repository at Yucca Mountain.
However, the Tribal Council decided to retract their initial agreement after careful review of the preliminary information on the project and in addition to receiving Tribal members input that was not readily available during the initial decision process.
Senator Reid issued a statement of support for the Walker River Paiute Tribe decision to withdraw formally from the process on Wednesday.
FARM BILL HEARINGS BEGIN IN EARNEST
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee is holding a series of hearings on the Farm Bill.
April 24: Economic difficulties agricultural producers face, including: specialty crops, dairy, sugar, and organic production.
April 25: Focus on commodity programs.
May 1: Conservation policy recommendations.
May 9: Farm and energy issues; rural development.
Meanwhile, several House Agriculture Subcommittees will focus their hearings along jurisdictional lines.
April 24: The Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the federal milk marketing order rulemaking producers.
April 26: The General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee will focus their hearing on the reauthorization of program crop provisions, with a crop insurance hearing following on May 1.
