Las Vegas Sun

November 15, 2009

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Farming to continue temporarily on ranches given to Wildlife Service

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 1997 | 4:26 a.m.

The ranches were bought by Del Webb Corp. and traded to the federal government for lands in Clark County. The Churchill County land was then handed over to the Fish and Wildlife Service so that surface water rights could eventually be transferred to the wildlife refuge.

"There's going to be interim use," said Richard Grimes, who handles the land acquisition program for the refuge. "There's no reason to stop agricultural use right away."

Because it was not known when the land trade would be completed, the lands purchased by Del Webb were leased to area farmers under an agreement that extends through the end of the current season, Grimes said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is developing a plan on how the land will be managed, but the agency has said it intends to revegetate the farmlands with native plants before water rights are transferred to the wetlands.

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