Bill authorizing sale of federal land in Lincoln County passes Congress

Sandra Chereb

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 5:04 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Nevada's Lincoln County, choked off from economic opportunity by federal lands that surround its tiny communities, would have room to grow under legislation approved by Congress.

The Lincoln County Lands Act authorizing the sale of 13,500 federally owned acres was approved by the Senate late Tuesday. The measure passed in the House on Sept. 26 and now goes to President Clinton for his signature.

Sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., the bill gives the rural county more private land to expand its struggling tax base.

"We needed it," Lincoln County Commission Chairman Dan Frehner said Wednesday. "We had to go the state legislature last year and beg for money. This will help."

Located in southeastern Nevada, Lincoln is the state's third largest county, encompassing 10,635 square miles. More than 90 percent of the land is owned by the federal government.

Reid, Gibbons and county officials hope the legislation will help stimulate economic activity through resulting private development.

"Lincoln County currently cannot sustain its necessary public services on such a limited tax base," Gibbons said in a written statement.

Gibbons said the situation is so critical, public schools are "literally uninhabitable" because the school district has no money to maintain them.

Three of the county's schools have been condemned, Frehner confirmed.

Reid called the legislation a "win-win" for everyone involved.

"The county will almost double its tax base from these land sales, and the school district will receive additional funding for the public schools which so desperately need more money," he said.

The legislation directs the Interior Secretary to sell 4,800 acres within a year, with the rest to be sold over the next five years through a competitive bidding process.

Ten percent of land sale proceeds will go to the county, with an emphasis on using the money for public education. The state education fund will receive 5 percent.

The rest will go the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to cover costs of the land transactions, protect sensitive lands in Nevada and manage archaeological sites in Lincoln County.

Reid and Gibbons wrote similar legislation last summer, but the bill was pulled amid criticism that a single Mesquite developer would benefit. The latest measure requires the land be sold through a competitive process.

Another previous attempt at freeing up land in Lincoln County fell through earlier this year when some residents objected to federal policy over protection of the endangered desert tortoise.

Under that proposal, called the Lincoln-Douglas exchange, proceeds from the sale of Lincoln's federal land would have helped buy conservation easements to protect farmland in northern Nevada's Douglas County.