Company says land swap will shortchange taxpayers $121 million

Saturday, July 19, 1997 | 5:27 a.m.

A Del Webb official Friday sharply criticized the protest by Nevada Lands Inc., in which an appraiser calculated the land Del Webb wants in the Las Vegas Valley is worth $36,000 per acre instead of $12,426 per acre the BLM's appraiser figured.

"This other appraisal is obviously a blatant attempt by some no-name organization to create and enhance public sentiment in opposition to our appraisal," said Scott Higginson, Del Webb's vice president for government and public affairs.

The two-phase trade would give Del Webb Corp. 4,756 acres of prime development land in the southern valley in exchange for environmentally sensitive lands across the state, including 3,570 acres in Churchill County's Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and 1,880 acres in Kings Canyon west of Carson City.

The Nevada Lands protest, filed July 7 - the last day for public comments - by lawyer Garry Hayes, was one of 18 the BLM fielded concerning the exchange. Among other protesters' concerns were insufficient lands offered by Del Webb and questions about air quality, water supplies and a wilderness study area.

Utah's Department of Commerce Corporations Division records show Nevada Lands was not incorporated until July 11, four days after the comment period closed.

"There was an attorney in Utah (who was) hired to incorporate it, and there was a mix-up in some of the circumstances," Hayes explained.

Citing attorney-client privilege, Hayes declined to name Nevada Land's owners or officers.

Under Utah law, officers or directors of new corporations are not required to be listed during the company's first year. The registered agent for Nevada Lands is CT Corporation System, based in Salt Lake City.

Mike Dwyer, the BLM's district manager, said he is confident that the Feb. 11 appraisal by the government's Las Vegas contractor - Piercy, Bowler, Taylor and Kern - is accurate. That appraisal was reviewed and approved by the BLM's chief appraiser, David Cavanaugh.

Dwyer added he is not sure if Nevada Lands' appraiser, Donald Beach, followed standards for public land appraisals.

The BLM valued the 2,535 acres involved in the first phase at $31.5 million, while Beach set the value at $91.3 million.

The second phase would involve adjoining public land and other environmentally sensitive land, which the BLM could consider for approval.

The BLM has agreed to proceed with the first phase, but Dwyer said his staff is developing responses to all protests.

The Del Webb exchange is the first in which the government revealed values of public lands before it traded them.