Lawmakers target sales of public lands

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Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 11:11 a.m.

The Nevada Legislature is recommending to Congress that the Bureau of Land Management sell or auction public lands throughout the state, similar to a measure that passed in Clark County last year.

Counties around the state and the BLM have identified about 2 million acres of land that could be made available, Senate Natural Resources Chairman Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., have pledged their support of the state's efforts, Rhoads said.

The estimates of federal parcels that could be made available include 123,293 acres in Southern Nevada.

Under the statewide proposal, the Legislature is suggesting 70 percent of the revenue from the sale buy environmentally sensitive lands with the rest divided between the state education fund and local governments' needs.