The Ruby Mountains Protection Act would preserve more than 340,000 acres, home to mule deer, sage grouse and Lahontan cutthroat trout
WASHINGTON – More than 340,000 acres of public lands and waters in the Ruby Mountains of northeastern Nevada will be preserved under legislation introduced in the US Senate today.
The Ruby Mountains Protection Act would prohibit oil and gas leasing on more than 300,000 acres of the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and nearly 40,000 acres of the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The region provides a critical migration corridor for the state’s largest mule deer herd, habitat for sagebrush grouse, and robust fisheries including Lahontan cutthroat trout, Nevada’s state fish. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) reintroduced the bill in the 118th Congress. It passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the 117th Congress with bipartisan support.
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, which has now supported the legislation in three Congresses, highlighted its importance to Nevada’s fish, wildlife and public lands and waters.
“We are grateful to Senator Cortez Masto for her leadership in reintroducing the Ruby Mountains Protection Act, which would remove nearly 350,000 acres of public land from oil and gas leasing, eliminating the threat of habitat fragmentation and maintaining land use. multiple,” said Bryce Pollock, BHA Nevada chapter policy co-chair. “Sportsmen applaud this legislation that would preserve critical migratory corridor habitat for Nevada’s largest mule deer herd, as well as streams and lakes populated by Lahontan cutthroat trout.”
“With the introduction in the 118he Congress of the Ruby Mountains Protection Act, we have an opportunity to conserve critical habitat and support healthy populations of fish and wildlife in a region of Northeast Nevada that is absolutely unique,” said John Gale BHA, vice president of policy and government relations.
“Speculative oil and gas leasing, as well as other developments, have long threatened these public lands and waters,” Gale continued. “Sen. Cortez Masto has taken a step to address the problem of habitat fragmentation by championing this legislation, which also allows common sense multiple-use management to continue. We appreciate his commitment to the fish and wildlife of Northeast Nevada and to the hunters and fishermen whose traditions depend on them.”
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