Public agencies, citizens forge federal land wish list

Thursday, April 27, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

Local governments want to write their own wish list of environmentally sensitive lands in the Las Vegas Valley that need to be bought for the protection of threatened and endangered species.

Representatives of 33 federal, state and local agencies as diverse as the Sierra Club and off-road vehicle organizations took the first step to make a list Wednesday at a meeting of Clark County's Desert Conservation Program Implementation and Monitoring Committee.

The Bureau of Land Management is selling 27,000 acres of public land, most of it within the Las Vegas Valley, so the proceeds can buy fragile desert environments under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998.

The legislation has become a model for other Western states pursuing control of federal lands.

Under the act, 85 percent of the proceeds are to be used to secure sensitive environmental parcels. The rest goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority and education.

In November the BLM sold 105 acres for $9.4 million. The second auction, of 400 acres, is scheduled for June 8-9.

What is bought with that money is the source of the controversy. The local committee is drawing up its list in response to one published in January by federal agencies. The committee says that list focuses too heavily on Northern Nevada and does not reflect local needs or allow for public comment.

Places such as the Las Vegas Wash -- where 2,000 acres of wetlands have been reduced to 200 acres through years of urban runoff -- the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas and the Sheep Mountains north of the valley should rank near the top of any preservation list, the committee agreed.

Attorney Paul Selzer, who directs the committee meetings, said that a letter has been sent on its behalf to Mike Dwyer, the BLM's land sale manager, criticizing the selection process after the first list appeared in January.

If the federal government won't listen to local concerns, the committee is prepared to forge ahead with a separate list of selected lands, Selzer said.

"Is this something this group ought to do? I think it is," Selzer said, sweeping his hand around the room at the Desert Research Institute, where the committee met all day.

"In the absence of the feds creating a public process, we are it," said Cindy Truelove, who coordinates Clark County's conservation plan and is a member of the committee.

"We have a boatload of acquisition opportunities in Clark County," Truelove said.

In fact, environmental groups have prepared their own list of parcels that includes the Little Red Rock Canyon in the Spring Mountains and exceptional desert tortoise habitat in Coyote Springs, an area that straddles Clark and Lincoln counties, Jane Feldman of the Sierra Club said.

Land in the Las Vegas Wash and scarce freshwater springs are particularly vulnerable to continued development in Southern Nevada, Feldman said.

The committee agreed to pressure federal officials for more public participation in the land selection process and to ask the BLM to focus on buying sensitive lands in Southern Nevada.

The committee was formed in 1989 shortly after the Mojave Desert tortoise was declared an endangered species. Through the committee, Clark County worked out a program to save the tortoise and many other species in the coming years while allowing continued development.

The panel continues to work on plans to protect 80 plant, animal, bird, reptile, fish and insect species as growth gobbles their natural habitats.

Mary Manning covers environmental issues for the Sun. She can be reached at 259-4065 or by e-mail at manning@lasvegassun.com