Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§460hhhh Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area

Title 16 › Chapter 1— NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter CXLV— NUMUNAA NOBE NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA › § 460hhhh

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates the Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area in Churchill County, Nevada. It covers about 160,224 acres, shown on a map dated November 30, 2022, that is on file with the Bureau of Land Management. Conservation Area = the Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area. Management plan = the plan the Secretary must make under paragraph (3)(B). Secretary = the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary must run the area to protect its cultural, natural, wildlife, and scenic resources and follow the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and other laws. The Secretary must make a management plan within 2 years after December 23, 2022. The plan must be made with input from federal, state, Tribal, local officials, and the public. The plan will say what uses are allowed, allow motor vehicles only where the plan says (including for maintaining existing roads), and include appropriate parts of existing BLM plans, including the Search and Rescue Training Cooperative Agreement dated July 6, 1998, and the Carson City District BLM Administrative Guide to Military Activities dated January 25, 2012. Public land in the area is withdrawn from entry, mining claims, and mineral or geothermal leasing and materials, except for valid existing rights; if the Secretary buys mineral or other interests after December 23, 2022, that parcel is withdrawn on the date of purchase. State rules for fish and wildlife still apply, but the Secretary can set no-hunt or no-fish times or places for safety or administration after consulting the State and notifying the public, except in emergencies. Grazing that was allowed on December 23, 2022, may continue under the law. There is no buffer zone around the area. Military low-level overflights, flight testing, new special airspace, and military training routes are not limited. Nothing in the law creates or claims water rights for the area.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §460hhhh

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)In this section:
(A)The term “Conservation Area” means the Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area established by paragraph (2).
(B)The term “management plan” means the management plan for the Conservation Area developed under paragraph (3)(B).
(C)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.
(2)(A)To conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the cultural, archaeological, natural, wilderness, scientific, geological, historical, biological, wildlife, educational, recreational, and scenic resources of the Conservation Area, subject to valid existing rights, there is established the Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area in the State of Nevada, to be administered by the Secretary.
(B)(i)The Conservation Area shall consist of approximately 160,224 acres of public land in Churchill County, Nevada, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Churchill County Proposed Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization and Lands Bill” and dated November 30, 2022.
(ii)The map described in clause (i) shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management.
(3)(A)The Secretary shall administer the Conservation Area in a manner that conserves, protects, and enhances the resources of the Conservation Area—
(i)in accordance with—
(I)this section;
(II)the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(III)any other applicable law; and
(ii)as a component of the National Landscape Conservation System.
(B)(i)Not later than 2 years after December 23, 2022, the Secretary shall develop a management plan for the Conservation Area.
(ii)In developing the management plan, the Secretary shall consult with—
(I)appropriate Federal, State, Tribal, and local governmental entities; and
(II)members of the public.
(iii)The management plan shall—
(I)describe the appropriate uses of the Conservation Area;
(II)in accordance with paragraph (5), authorize the use of motor vehicles in the Conservation Area, where appropriate, including for the maintenance of existing roads; and
(III)incorporate any provision of an applicable land and resource management plan that the Secretary considers to be appropriate, to include the Search and Rescue Training Cooperative Agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Training Center dated July 6, 1998, and the Carson City District BLM Administrative Guide to Military Activities on and Over the Public Lands dated January 25, 2012.
(4)The Secretary shall allow only those uses of the Conservation Area that the Secretary determines would further the purposes of the Conservation Area.
(5)Except as needed for administrative purposes, planned military activities authorized by paragraph (3)(B)(iii)(III), or to respond to an emergency, the use of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area shall be permitted only on roads and trails designated for the use of motorized vehicles by the management plan.
(6)(A)Subject to valid existing rights, all public land in the Conservation Area is withdrawn from—
(i)all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
(ii)location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(iii)disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
(B)If the Secretary acquires mineral or other interests in a parcel of land within the Conservation Area after December 23, 2022, the parcel is withdrawn from operation of the laws referred to in subparagraph (A) on the date of acquisition of the parcel.
(7)(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), nothing in this section affects the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada with respect to fish and wildlife, including hunting, fishing, and trapping in the Conservation Area.
(B)(i)The Secretary may designate by regulation areas in which, and establish periods during which, no hunting, fishing, or trapping will be permitted in the Conservation Area, for reasons of public safety, administration, or compliance with applicable laws.
(ii)Except in an emergency, the Secretary shall consult with the appropriate State agency and notify the public before taking any action under clause (i).
(8)In the case of land included in the Conservation Area on which the Secretary permitted, as of December 23, 2022, livestock grazing, the livestock grazing shall be allowed to continue, subject to applicable laws (including regulations).
(9)(A)Nothing in this section creates a protective perimeter or buffer zone around the Conservation Area.
(B)The fact that an activity or use on land outside the Conservation Area can be seen or heard within the Conservation Area shall not preclude the activity or use outside the boundary of the Conservation Area.
(10)Nothing in this section restricts or precludes—
(A)low-level overflights of military aircraft over the Conservation Area, including military overflights that can be seen or heard within the Conservation Area;
(B)flight testing and evaluation; or
(C)the designation or creation of new units of special use airspace, or the establishment of military flight training routes, over the Conservation Area.
(10)Nothing in this section constitutes an express or implied reservation of any water rights with respect to the Conservation Area.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, referred to in par. (3)(A)(i)(II), is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, which is classified principally to chapter 35 (§ 1701 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1701 of Title 43 and Tables.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 460hhhh

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60