Although there were a number of […] sightings, Groom Lake remained in isolation. Only crashes, such as Have Blue 1001, brought attention to the site. Despite this, no published account had mentioned Groom Lake. It was always "a base in Nevada."
The 1979 Las Vegas Review-Journal article changed this; it named Groom Lake as the location of the test site. The article noted that while older maps showed Groom Lake, more recent ones did not. The article stripped Groom Lake of the anonymity that had protected the site for nearly twenty-five years.
This was to have major consequences in the decade to follow.
With the increased press attention, several code names for the test site soon became known. These included the Ranch, Area 51, and what was actually the call sign for Groom Lake's tower. The name's evocative and sinister sound ensured it caught the public's fancy — "Dreamland."
With the publication of the name Groom Lake, the flaw in Dreamland's security became apparent. The site was bordered by public land. It was possible to hike into the area and observe the site, without trespassing.
There was an obvious solution.
The withdrawal of public land for military use must be periodically renewed. When the air force submitted a renewal to Congress, it added 89,600 acres of the Groom Mountains to the 3.3 million of the Nellis Air Force Base range.[387] For a full two years, Congress did nothing about the request.[388]
In the meantime, the Reagan administration had begun a major buildup of strategic nuclear forces. This sparked opposition by "peace activists," such as Greenpeace. A standard tactic was attempting to disrupt military activities, particularly those dealing with nuclear weapons. On April 18, 1983, four Greenpeace demonstrators entered the nuclear test site via the dirt road that led to Groom Lake. For five days, they hid out in the mountainous ter-rain, before finally surrendering to the test site guards. It was widely believed that this incident caused the government to take action.
In March 1984, acting on the orders of Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger and/or President Reagan, armed guards were posted on the land.
When hunters and hikers approached Groom Lake, the guards requested them not to enter the area.
A reporter who went out to the site in May found the guards were "especially polite as they tell visitors they cannot drive farther along the dirt road" that led to Groom Lake. The reporter chatted with the guards and watched television while they waited for the supervisor to arrive. At the same time, orders were issued to ground all aircraft while strangers were "within earshot." The reporter repeatedly asked for the legal justification for the air force denying public access. The only reason given was "national security."[389]
Throughout the west, resentment was building over federal land policy.
About 87 percent of the land in the state of Nevada was not under state control; it was federal land. The Groom Mountain land seizure quickly became part of this "sagebrush rebellion." Local members of Congress were quick to become involved. Representative Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said, "People have a right to be upset. There has been no land withdrawal. They simply have closed land off for national security reasons." Representative Barbara Vucanovich (R-Nevada) requested a hearing "to bring it into the open."[390]
It would be August 6, 1984, before Congress could get around to holding hearings on the Groom Mountains. The hearings before the House Subcommittee on Lands and National Parks saw a parade of Nevada officials, hunting and mining interests, and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Audubon Society. Nevada Governor Richard Bryan attacked the air force, saying that it had tried to "hoodwink the Congress and the state of Nevada." He continued: "For years, Nevadans have acquiesced to defense-related land withdrawals, but the time has come to draw the line. I strongly suggest to you that the day is past when the federal government can look at Nevada… as an unpopulated wasteland to be cordoned off for whatever national purpose seems to require it."[391]
Governor Bryan did not object to "the legitimate security needs of our country," but said, "if the federal government withdraws the land, then Nevada must be compensated."[392]
The subcommittee chairman, John Seiberling (D-Ohio), also attacked the air force. He told John Rittenhouse, the air force representative, "There is no higher level than the laws of the United States." When Rittenhouse said he could explain the reasons only in a closed briefing, Seiberling exploded:
"Shades of Watergate. All I am asking you is under what legal authority this was done. I am not asking you the technical reasons. That certainly is not classified."
Rittenhouse responded, "We had no legal authority, but we asserted the right to request people not to enter that area.""Newspaper headlines read, "AF admit to illegality."
The Groom Mountains land issue also became involved with wilderness policy. Representative Sieberling proposed a trade-off — the air force could have the Nellis Air Force Base and Groom Lake land if 1,408,900 acres of the National Wildlife Range was designated a wilderness area. This would close it to any development and restrict access to backpackers. The deal would also restrict the tests the air force could conduct and limit the land withdrawal to December 31, 1987, pending an environmental report. He then offered to withdraw the wilderness provisions, if Senator Paul Laxalt (R-Nevada) would provide assurances he would get the Nevada congressional delegation to act on a wilderness bill that year. (Nevada had yet to produce a wilderness plan ten years after it was required.)[393] Representative Reid said the provision had been put into the bill to force the Nevada delegation to come up with a wilderness bill.[394]
The legal maneuvering continued for the next three years, and involved "compensation" for the loss of recreation, grazing, and mining claims on the land. Many of the land use-wilderness issues, such as whether snow-mobiling would be allowed in some areas and the building of a paved road from Rachel, Nevada, into the Nevada Test Site, had nothing to do with the Groom Mountains, but they blocked passage.[395]
By March 1988, the issue had not been resolved, and the temporary land withdraw would soon expire. John Rittenhouse told the Senate public lands subcommittee: "We have operations which would have to cease if the public were allowed to be [there]. It would be extremely detrimental to our national defense effort… Our concern is for any visual sightings by anyone."[396]
The extension to the land withdraw the air force sought was itself part of the political power plays — Reid wanted only a ten-week extension, in order to pressure Senator Chic Hecht (R-Nevada) to act on the wilderness bill.[397]
Environmentalists also continued to complain they were not getting enough.
The groups Citizen Alert and the Rural Coalition tried to use two mining claims as "bargaining chips." They would be given up in exchange for the groups having a "say" in the writing of a report on military activities in Nevada, action on land claims by the Western Shoshone Indians, and return of one member's pilot license.[398]
The day before the extension was to expire, the House separated the Groom Mountain issue from the wilderness bill. The withdrawal was approved on a voice vote and sent to the Senate.[399] Approval was given and it was sent to President Reagan.
387
Ed Vogel, "Military reportedly moving in to stake claim on Groom Mountains,"
388
Mary O'Driscoll, "Reid backs USAF on land issue,
389
Ed Vogel, "Nevadans question Air Force seizure of land,"
392
Mary Manning, "Irate Nevadans 'march' on D.C. to protest federal land-grabbing,"
393
Kathleen Buckley, "Wilderness tradeoff proposed,"
394
Kathleen Buckley, "Top secret maneuvers in jeopardy,"
395
Christopher Bell, "Air Force will seek continued access restriction to secret base,"
396
David Koenig, "Air Force seeks extension of closed area on Groom Mountain,"
397
David Koenig, "Congress extends fed takeover of Groom area,"
399
David Koenig, "House separates Groom Mountain pact from wilderness issue,"