Please consider contacting your US Senators as described below to support our work on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.  The issue is included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021.

Background information is at the bottom of this message.

Feel free to personalize this information however you would like, but please use the “ask” and the points provided at the top of your message or as the first thing you say on the phone.  In both cases we recommend keeping it short.

For a written message, see the instructions below.  You will need to give your name and address.

By phone, you may get voicemail:  read the script/message.  If you get through to a person, it will be a junior-level staff person who will ask for your name and address.  Then give them the script/message.  They may ask more questions, but when they say “I’ll be happy to pass this along to the Senator,” that is the end of the call:  thank them and sign off.

Directions:
1.  Go to:  https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
2.  Choose your state in the box provided.
3.  Either call the number shown or follow the Contact link.
4.  If you are calling, use the script/message below for the voicemail or conversation.  If you’re filling out the contact form, use the following info and then fill in the message box with the script/message:

Topic:  Armed Forces or Defense or Military, etc.
Subject: Support NDAA Sec. 2862 – and oppose any changes

Script or written Message:
Please support NDAA Sec. 2862 as–is to promote partnership between the Air Force and sportsmen!

Background

NDAA Sec. 2862 – Renewal of Nevada Test and Training Range Land Withdrawal and Reservation.

Please support Sec. 2862 as-is and oppose unfriendly amendments.

This Section extends the expiring military land withdrawal on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which the Air Forces uses for training.

Sec. 2862 is a chance for a do-over on co-management between Air Force and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  A required agreement on co-management has not been completed. The lacking coordination is impeding access to the Refuge for wildlife management.

Until co-management is working, the withdrawal should remain the status quo.

The Desert National Wildlife Refuge was established in the 1930s for desert bighorn sheep conservation.  Adjacent to the Refuge is the Air Force’s Nevada Test and Training Range.  Congress gave Air Force the right to use half of the Refuge for training.

We are proud of this, but it creates problems:  our work crews, hunters, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the US Fish and Wildlife have a hard time getting access to the Refuge for surveys, water management, and the annual hunt.  These problems were supposed to be solved by a written agreement between the Air Force and Fish and Wildlife, but the agreement has never been reached.  Meanwhile, the Air Force proposed to expand the area available for training and to take over those lands entirely.  That proposal would need to be included in the NDAA to be approved.  The Senate Defense committee refused to include it and, instead, give the Air Force 20 more years under the current shared management deal.  This is what Sec. 2862 does.  It puts pressure on the Air Force to reach an agreement on co-management, which is why we support it.  Sec. 2862 could be amended during the Senate debate to revive the Air Force proposal, which is why we oppose unfriendly amendments.