Controversial BLM practice not limited to one firm

Monday, July 1, 2002 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Bureau of Land Management's controversial practice of using "hosted employees" paid for by private companies has been going on since 1998, and it hasn't been confined to Nevada Land Resource Co.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has asked BLM Director Kathleen Clark to end the relationship between the BLM and the company that is the largest private landholder in Nevada. But other major firms and local governments have tie-ins to supply workers to the BLM to process applications for land exchanges or to act as inspectors on projects that cross BLM land.

For instance, Nevada Power Co. has three workers assigned to the Las Vegas office of the BLM to help process applications for right of way or to make inspections to make sure the utility builds within its right of way and follows all other conditions. Silver State Fiber Optics has four people working in the BLM office in Ely as the company builds a fiber optics line along U.S. 50.

Jo Simpson, chief of communications for the BLM in Nevada, said there are an estimated 15 workers from various companies or governments working in the offices of the agency to speed up the land transfer and other applications. Clark County and the city of Las Vegas each have one worker in the Southern Nevada office of the BLM.

Simpson stressed there was nothing illegal about this practice that dates back four years. And she said there have never been allegations that these employees have favored their employers in amassing information for a decision.

It's the BLM managers who make the decisions in these land swaps or other cases, she said.

The companies or governments pay the salaries of these workers, who are based in the field offices of the BLM. The BLM reimburses the companies or governments through land transfers, agency officials said.

These workers ensure that the applications are filled out in full. They do research, oversee the environmental impact statements that are required and verify land records.

This collection of data is necessary, officials argue. And if the BLM had to do it, the land transfers would take longer. Simpson said she did not have any estimate how much this speeded up the process.

And they act as inspectors, Simpson said. For instance, the four in the Ely office are compliance inspectors, making sure the fiber optics technology is laid within the proper corridor and that the environmental impact statement is complied with, in such things as preserving archeological artifacts.

The controversy arose in the case of Nevada Land Resource Co., which wants to swap land in Washoe County for property in southern Lincoln County. Nevada Land is tied to Vidler Water Co., which would supply water to the site where Cogentrics would build a power plant.

Cogentrics has an employee stationed in the Ely office of the BLM working on hydrology issues, Simpson said.

Vidler has been battling Clark County in the fight over water in the rural counties. Viler and Lincoln County have a signed agreement to battle plans to pump water from Lincoln into Las Vegas.

Simpson said the BLM in Nevada has not received any word from its national office to stop the relationship with Nevada Land. Environmentalists and government watchdog agencies have complained about the ethics of this relationship.

Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said that on the surface, the Nevada Land relationship with BLM appears to be a conflict of interest. There are representatives from Duke Energy and Migrant in the Las Vegas office to clear the way for construction of power plants in Southern Nevada. Besides Nevada Land, workers from Sierra Pacific Power Co. and Tuscaloosa Gas are stationed in the Carson City BLM office.