Cattle Removal Begins Today in Southern Nevada
Las Vegas - As provided in two Federal District Court orders, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Southern Nevada District Office and National Park Service (NPS) Lake Mead National Recreation Area today will begin removing cattle that have been grazing illegally on public land in Clark County for more than 20 years.
The BLM and the NPS have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially. The agencies are now implementing two Federal District Court orders to remove the cattle. The BLM and NPS are working closely with local, state and federal officials to ensure that removal occurs in a safe and orderly manner.
As the BLM and NPS remove these unauthorized cattle from public lands, the agencies will put into effect temporary closures to some publicly accessible land to ensure the safety of the public, federal employees and contractor personnel. Every effort will be made to minimize the impacts on visitors and public land users while the gather operations are underway, and all temporary closures will be lifted once the removal is complete.
Areas temporarily closed to public access will be posted with signs, closure notices and the public can also find daily updates about the removal operation and closure areas on the BLM and NPS websites: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/more/trespass_cattle.html and https://www.nps.gov/lake/parknews/2014impoundment.html.
For the convenience of the public, two areas have been designated for those wishing to express their first amendment rights. Permits are not needed to rally or protest in these locations: I-15 at Exit 112 for Riverside and State Route 170 and White Rock Road. Only one of these areas will be available at a time; Incident Command staff will determine daily location and it will be posted on BLM website at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/more/trespass_cattle/daily_public_land.html
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
