Clark County Council Votes Down Contract for FBI’s Continued Misuse of Camp Bonneville
On Tuesday, August 19th, after sustained advocacy from the community over many years to protect the public safety, health, and interest, the Clark County Council voted down a new contract for the FBI’s continued use of Camp Bonneville, Clark County’s nearly 4,000 acre, forested conservation conveyance and former military reservation.
Friends of Clark County joined with other voices in the community in speaking out on the issues surrounding Camp Bonneville, sharing the latest breakdown of developments with subscribers in our last newsletter. Since then, it was reported that 12,000 rounds of the FBI’s unsecured ammunition being stored on the property was stolen by criminals back in January (unbeknownst to the public until now), reigniting old concerns from the community about liabilities to the county posed by the FBI’s misuse.
Our position has been that the County needs to move forward with its plans for conservation and public access by focusing on the cleanup, not managing a host of law enforcement activities for many more years. Camp Bonneville is a beautiful, wild place that has experienced much abuse in its history, and it was provided to the County with the intent of remediation and the purpose of natural resource conservation.
We advocated to the county in meetings as well as conversations to take the decisive actions necessary to realize the future for Camp Bonneville, starting with the council declining to move forward with new law enforcement agreements and creating an actionable plan to accommodate the Clark County Sheriff’s Office’s needs at a new, appropriate location.
The council’s decision on Tuesday was a bold first step in that direction. Thank you to all who advocated and we will continue to keep you informed!