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November 5, 1996 Nevada Election Ballot
Question No. 4 (Introduced by Nevada Committee on Natural
Resources, chaired by private special interest Nevada Senator Dean
Rhoads, father of sagebrush rebellion and long-time public lands
permittee rancher.)
CONDENSATION (ballot
question)
Shall the Territorial
Ordinance of the Nevada Constitution be amended to remove the disclaimer
of the state's interest in the unappropriated public lands?
EXPLANATION:
On March 21, 1984, the United States Congress passed
legislation enabling the people of the Territory of Nevada to form a
constitution and establish a state government. Section 4 of the
Enabling Act required the new state to prohibit slavery, to allow
religious freedom, and to include a disclaimer which purportedly forever
allowed the Federal Government to control much of the land within the
boundaries of the state. This land was referred to as the
"unappropriated public lands". These conditions were included in
the "Ordinance of Nevada's original constitution, which was approved by
the voters on September 7, 1864, and by President Abraham Lincoln who
proclaimed Nevada's statehood on October 31, 1864.
The proposed amendment would remove that provision from
the "Ordinance" which reads that the people of the Territory of Nevada
"forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands
lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at
the sole and entire disposition of the United States". The
proposed amendment, if approved, does not become effective until the
Congress of the United States consents to the amendment or until a court
decides that such congressional action is not needed.
A "YES" vote is a vote to
remove the disclaimer from the ordinance.
A "NO" vote is a vote to leave the disclaimer in the ordinance.
ARGUMENTS FOR PASSAGE:
The intent of the founding fathers of this country was to
guarantee that any new state admitted to the Union would be treated in
the same way and placed on an equal footing with the original states.
None of the original 13 states was required to disclaim all right and
title to its unappropriated public lands. It should be noted that
approximately 87% of the public land in Nevada is unappropriated public
lands. Of the 50 states, only 27 were purportedly required to
disclaim all right and title to their public lands as a condition of
statehood. The disclaimer in Nevada's Ordinance violated the
guarantee that Nevada would be treated in the same way as the original
states. Additionally, in lawsuits against the State of Nevada, the
Federal Government continues to rely on the disclaimer to support its
position that it should keep control over the land in Nevada.
Therefore, the disclaimer should be removed from the Ordinance of the
Nevada Constitution.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST PASSAGE:
In 1864, eligible voters of the Territory of Nevada
disclaimed all right and title to the unappropriated public lands as a
condition of statehood. Further, the federal Enabling Act specified that
the disclaimer was "irrevocable" unless the United States and the people
of Nevada both agree to remove it. Even if Nevadans approve
Question 4, their approval does not guarantee that Congress will agree
to remove the disclaimer.
FISCAL NOTED:
Financial Impact...Cannot be determined. The
proposal to amend the ordinance of the Nevada Constitution would remove
the disclaimer of the interest of the state in appropriated public
lands. The fiscal effect would be determined by subsequent actions of
the Federal Government and persons who may take advantage of the
provision.
FULL TEXT OF THE
MEASURE: Senate Joint Resolution (No. 27, 67th Nevada
Session)...proposing to amend the ordinance of the Nevada constitution
to repeal the disclaimer of interest of the state in unappropriated
public lands.
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WHEREAS, The State of
Nevada has a strong moral claim upon the public land retained by the
Federal Government within Nevada's borders; and
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WHEREAS, On October 31,
1964, the Territory of Nevada admitted to statehood on the condition
that it forever disclaim all right and title to unappropriated public
land within its boundaries; and
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WHEREAS, Nevada received
the least amount of land 2,572,478 acres, and the smallest percentage of
its total area, 3.9%, of the land grant states in the Far West admitted
after 1864, while states of comparable location and soil, including
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, received approximately 11% of their total
area in federal land grants; and
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WHEREAS, The State of
Texas, when admitted to the Union in 1845, retained ownership of all
unappropriated land within its borders; and
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WHEREAS, the federal
holdings in the State of Nevada constitute 86.7% of the area of the
state, and in Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye and White Pine counties
the Federal Government controls from 97 to 99% of the land; and
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WHEREAS, The federal
jurisdiction over the public domain is shared among several federal
agencies or departments which causes problems concerning the proper
management of the land and disrupts the normal relationship between a
state, its residents and its property; and
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WHEREAS, The intent of the
framers of the Constitution of the United States was to guarantee to
each of the states sovereignty over all matters within its boundaries
except for those powers specifically granted to the United States as
agent of the states: and
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WHEREAS, The exercise of
dominion and control of the public lands within the State of Nevada by
the United States works a severe, continuous and debilitating hardship
upon the people of the State of Nevada; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED
BY THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, JOINTLY, That the
ordinance of the constitution of the State of Nevada be amended to read
as follows:
In obedience to the requirements of an act of Congress of the United States,
approved March 21, 1864, to enable the people of Nevada to form a constitution
and state government, this convention, elected and convened in obedience to said
enabling act, do ordain as follows, and this ordinance shall be irrevocable
without the consent of the United States and the people of the State of Nevada:
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/68th/95bills/SJR27_67.TXT
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