Report blasts Forest Service land deals

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 10:53 a.m.

A draft federal investigative report accuses the U.S. Forest Service of swapping thousands of acres of prime public land near Las Vegas and Reno without following proper procedures, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

An inspector general's report questioned the actions of a former Forest Service supervisor who signed a sworn statement saying he accepted gifts and entertainment from negotiators involved in land exchanges worth $45 million.

Former Forest Service Supervisor Jim Nelson, who retired in April, is alleged to have used a private condominium in Squaw Valley, Idaho, received wedding gifts and spent two days as a houseguest of the president of the American Land Conservancy, the San Francisco-based negotiator for many Nevada deals.

Harriet Burgess, ALC president, said she had not seen the draft report.

A land deal involving an area called Deer Creek in the Spring Mountains triggered the investigation. The Forest Service swapped land in Las Vegas managed by the Bureau of Land Management for 458 acres in and next to the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area, 35 miles west of the city. The property was added to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Investigators contend that negotiations between the Forest Service and the American Land Conservancy led to an uneven exchange favoring a private party, Pine Development, owned by Jan Bernard. Government negotiators agreed to exchange federal land worth $5.9 million more than the private property Pine Development received in return.

Burgess said the Forest Service supported the conservancy's involvement and worked with ALC as a partner. In formal bargaining, previous appraisals were allowed to be ignored, a process never before attempted by the Forest Service. The conservancy was trying to preserve nearby wilderness, she said. Between 1992 and late 1995, the land was appraised at between $6.7 million and $12.5 million. The final appraisal was $10.5 million.

Public-lands advocate Lois Sagel called the report unfair. "I feel sick over this," she said. "People who bargained in good faith are being tagged as unscrupulous. It's just plain not fair. This was the right thing for the right reasons."

The inspector general's office, an investigative arm of the Department of Agriculture, plans to launch audits of Forest Service land exchanges in California and the Southwest, according to the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics of Eugene, Ore.