Harry Reid: “I arise today to introduce legislation to establish a public heliport facility in Clark County, NV. The purpose of my…”

“I arise today to introduce legislation to establish a public heliport facility in Clark County, NV. The purpose of my bill is simple: It would convey about a third of a square mile of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management to Clark County for dedicated use as a heliport. The land is located just south of the Henderson city limits and east of Interstate 15. The establishment of this heliport will help eliminate the ongoing conflict between air tour operators whose overflights of the Grand Canyon represent a classic component of the Las Vegas visitor experience and residents in the west-central and southwestern parts of the Las Vegas Valley whose every day lives are adversely affected by helicopter noise. For many months now, local officials have sought to establish a heliport on County or private land within the Las Vegas Valley. Their chosen site is currently a go-kart track near Interstate 15 near Henderson. If this site is developed as a heliport facility, helicopter tour operators will soon be flying over the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. In fact, if Congress does not enact my bill, air tours will soon be flying over Sloan Canyon itself--one of the richest petroglyph sites in the Mohave Desert. That outcome would be entirely legal, entirely predictable and entirely regrettable.”