Yucca Mountain, 1988, Nuclear Waste

Yucca Mountain, 1988, Nuclear Waste

Yucca Mountain, Bullfrog, Nevada

Cover Date: April 5, 1988

Nevada was about to become America's garbage pile. Nevadans were up in arms. "Take the nation's nuclear waste and dump it some place else!" Then the United States government sweetened the pot with a substantial monetary bribe! How would Nevada react?

Cover as History: Nevada was in a long standing battle with the United States government whether the national nuclear dump should be put in Nevada in Yucca Mountain (appropriately named, don't you think).

(A map showing Bullfrog County!)

So the US government sweetened the proposition by promising to pay millions and millions of dollars in taxes. Yucca Mountain was in a very large and very sparsely populated county called Nye County So in 1987 the state legislature created a new county within Nye county called Bullfrog County.

Now this county was rather interesting. First of all no one lived in the county That's right, not a single person. Second of all the county seat was Carson City which was hundreds of miles away. But the bill was passed and Governor Bryan, who had been given control of the county, appointed a county commission which began figuring out how to distribute the money equitably among the state.

Now Nye County officials realized that they were losing a lot of money with the creation of Bullfrog County and challenged the new law. The Supreme Court of Nevada had to agree. Was the Governor of the state to be the sole citizen of the county for ever with absolute control? How could a jury be chosen for a trial that just happened within the county boundaries. The court said the law was unconstitutional and in 1989 the legislature repealed the bill.

As one newspaper put it, "The Bullfrog has Croaked!"

History of Cover: OK, work with me on this one.

This cover is addressed to Bullfrog County during the short two years of its existence. It is also cancelled.
The letter inside asked for information about Bullfrog County from the Governor.
The Governor was the only person who lived in Bullfrog County. Although he had appointed a county commission, he or the county commission had not appointed anyone else to any other position. That makes the Governor the defacto post master!
The letter back explains the state's position on Bullfrog County! It was postmarked in Carson City, the county seat of Bullfrog County.

The only conclusion one can reach is that this letter is truly addressed to the ill-fated Bullfrog County - at least if you are willing to use a little imagination.

Post Office Dates: June 18, 1987 - November 29, 1989

I am not sure what date the legislation making Bullfrog a county was repealed. I do know it was in 1989 during the legislative session.