Reid, Bryan support national monuments

Considering how much of our public lands have already been destroyed, I have been very happy to see the Clinton administration working hard to preserve what's left by declaring several national monuments in recent months.

Fortunately, both Senator Reid and Senator Bryan recently voted to support monument designation by voting against a rider that limits the ability of future presidents to protect sensitive lands. I hope that both senators will continue to represent people across Nevada who want to protect these special places instead of the industries who want to profit off our lands.

I was also pleased to see that both senators voted in favor of cutting funding for money-losing and destructive logging in our public lands, and at the same time supporting more resources for fire management. Their votes were a step in the right direction for the environment, taxpayers and healthier forests. Senator Bryan in particular should be thanked for his leadership. He was a lead sponsor of the amendment, furthering his reputation as a politician who consistently works for the public interest.

In the end, the Senator voted to support the President's ability to protect public lands, but limited the ability of the forest service to manage our lands. Both votes were very close, and with less support from our state's senators, our public lands could have been a big loser.