The Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) and Proposed Wilderness Areas Issues Affecting the NTTR’s Land Withdrawal Renewal Beth E. Lachman, John A. Ausink, William A. Williams, Katherine Pfrommer, Manuel J. Carrillo C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1105 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9237-3 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2016 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover photo by Beth Lachman: Desert National Wildlife Refuge, April 2014. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface This research seeks to help the U.S. Air Force (USAF) understand broad strategic issues related to the future purpose and use of the withdrawn lands that make up the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). One strategic issue relates to restrictions that the USAF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are observing in proposed wilderness areas that are located in land co-managed by the NTTR and the Desert National Wildlife Range (DNWR), the largest national wildlife refuge outside of Alaska. These restrictions complicate operational practices for the USAF test and training activity being conducted on these lands. We found that the USAF has a range of options for working with the USFWS to acquire more operational flexibility on shared NTTR and DNWR lands. This document is intended to help senior leaders better understand how these USAF- managed lands came to be restricted by the wilderness proposal. It characterizes the historical use of the land, describes how USAF range operational practices are being constrained, and discusses options to improve USAF operations on the DNWR portion of the NTTR, regardless of whether Congress approves the wilderness proposal. The ultimate goal is to inform test and training enterprise decisions and help the USAF and the USFWS improve the management of these withdrawn lands, given both their purposes and needs. This document is one of a series of research documents to better equip senior leaders in the Air Force, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of the Interior (DOI) who are working with Congress when setting priorities for the withdrawn lands and other NTTR resources. The research reported here was commissioned by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and conducted within the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as part of a fiscal year 2014 project, “Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) Renewal: A Strategic Look.” RAND Project AIR FORCE RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF), a division of the RAND Corporation, is the U.S. Air Force’s federally funded research and development center for studies and analyses. PAF provides the Air Force with independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development, employment, combat readiness, and support of current and future air, space, and cyber forces. Research is conducted in four programs: Force Modernization and Employment; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; Resource Management; and Strategy and Doctrine. The research reported here was prepared under contract FA7014-06-C-0001. iii Additional information about PAF is available on our website: http://www.rand.org/paf/ This report documents work originally shared with the U.S. Air Force on August 5, 2014. The draft report, issued on September 16, 2014, was reviewed by formal peer reviewers and U.S. Air Force subject-matter experts. iv Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iii Figures............................................................................................................................................ vi Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii Summary ...................................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... xii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... xiii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Research Approach ................................................................................................................................... 5 Outline of This Report .............................................................................................................................. 5 2. Proposed Wilderness within the DNWR and Its Impact on NTTR Operations ......................... 7 Background on U.S. Wilderness ............................................................................................................... 7 Status of the Proposed Wilderness within the DNWR ............................................................................. 8 Management of the DNWR .................................................................................................................... 12 NTTR Operations Near Proposed Wilderness Areas ............................................................................. 14 Restrictions Imposed by the Proposed Wilderness Status of the DNWR .............................................. 16 Testing and Training .......................................................................................................................... 17 Range Management ............................................................................................................................ 17 Environmental Management .............................................................................................................. 18 Wilderness Can Be a Useful Tool for the Air Force .............................................................................. 18 3. Air Force Options to Acquire More Operational Flexibility on DNWR Lands ....................... 21 4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 26 Appendix A. General Description of the NTTR ........................................................................... 28 Appendix B. Background on U.S. Wilderness ............................................................................. 38 Appendix C. Background on the National Wildlife Refuge System and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR) ....................................................................................................... 54 Appendix D. Process for Determining What NWR Lands Should Be Wilderness ...................... 64 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 72 v Figures Figure 1.1. Map of Federal Lands in and Around the NTTR ......................................................... 2 Figure 1.2. Timeline of Actions Related to the DNWR, NTTR, and Wilderness .......................... 4 Figure 2.1. Proposed Wilderness Areas in the DNWR ................................................................. 10 Figure 2.2. Examples of DNWR Areas Affected by Air Force Training ..................................... 15 Figure A.1. Location of NTTR Airspace in Nevada and Utah ..................................................... 28 Figure A.2. MOAs and Restricted Areas in the NTTR ................................................................. 30 Figure A.3. Subdivisions of NTTR Airspace ................................................................................ 31 Figure A.4. Comparison of Withdrawn Land Boundaries and Airspace Boundaries ................... 32 Figure A.5. Land Ownership in the NTTR ................................................................................... 34 Figure C.1. Wilderness Units in the Original Desert