Bureau of Indian Affairs to hold public meeting on Painted Rock Mine

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is scheduled to hold a public meeting to allow members of the public to learn about the Painted Rock Mine Draft Environmental Assessment. The in-person public comment meeting is scheduled to occur on March 20, 2024, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Douglas County Community and Senior Center (1329 Waterloo Lane, Gardnerville, Nevada). The public meeting will include a short presentation, time to converse with subject-matter experts, and time to make a verbal public comment on the content of the revised Environmental Assessment. Public comment will be limited to two minutes per person.

The Painted Rock Mine is a proposed commercial gravel pit operation located on federal land east of the Johnson Lane community. It is approximately 1.1 to 1.6 miles from the nearest residence on Johnson Lane.

The pit operation would have its gravel trucks traveling on Johnson Lane, a road the Douglas County webpage for the project says is adjacent to industrial areas much of its length, though residential neighborhoods are nearby. The County says it already sees routine truck traffic in numbers significantly higher than those proposed by this project.

The Painted Rock Mine is under the authority of the BIA. The location is Trust Land, land held in trust by the United States for tribes or individual Native Americans and managed by the BIA for their benefit.

The BIA has sole authority to approve the Painted Rock Mine project. This land and this project are not under the jurisdiction and control of the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners and the County has no authority to approve or condition this project in any way.

Douglas County will also place an item on the March 21 Board of County Commissioners agenda for Douglas County staff to provide an overview of the work that staff has done to represent the interests of the residents of Douglas County in the process and to receive direction from the Board regarding next steps.

For more information on the Painted Rock Mine project visit paintedrockmineproject.org

In addition, the County has launched a Frequently Asked Questions webpage to assist residents with information about Painted Rock Mine as it pertains to Douglas County: Click here.