Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Ensign calls for more of county to be protected

WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton has agreed to place a hold on a list of environmentally sensitive lands in Nevada that the Bureau of Land Management had been considering for purchase, Sen. John Ensign said.

Ensign requested the 30-day hold because only 4 percent of the lands on the list are in Clark County -- hardly a fair share under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998.

Ensign, R-Nev., wants more Clark County lands put on the list before the BLM approves it.

In 1998 Ensign, then a House member, and then-Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., led a push for the legislation that arranged for federal lands in Southern Nevada to be sold at auction. Eighty-five percent of the proceeds from the sales were to be used by the Bureau of Land Management to purchase lands -- mostly in Clark County -- for environmental protection, species habitat and recreation areas.

"The clear intent of the legislation was to keep most of the money in Clark County," Ensign said.

That's generally the way it worked in the last two years. But under a proposal on Norton's desk, this year the BLM would buy up lands mostly in Washoe County, not Clark. Of the 28,648 acres that would be purchased this year, only 4 percent are in Clark County, Ensign said.

"My reaction was, 'What is this?' What's going on here?' " Ensign said. "We have some very important environmental properties that need to be protected here (in Clark County)."

Clark County officials bear part of the blame for not requesting more land acquisitions by the BLM, Ensign said. Ensign aides said the county might consider recommending that the BLM buy the Jim Hardie Gypsum Mine site near Red Rock Canyon, as one example.

But Clark County Planning Director John Schlegel said much of the environmentally sensitive land in Clark County, such as the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, is already protected. Clark County doesn't have the same vast swaths of desert that other Nevada counties have, he said.

"The acreage comparison is not a good comparison," Schlegel said of Ensign's criticism that Clark County nominated only 975 acres.

Schlegel said the county likely would move lands it had planned to nominate for BLM buys next year to this year's list. The lands include trail systems throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

During the first stages of the process, the county was discouraged to submit requests but instead work with federal agencies that would ultimately nominate the land, said Alan Pinkerton, the county's assistant planning manager.

Pinkerton said the county was directed to allow the agencies in whose jurisdiction the sensitive land exists acquire the property.

"Those agencies have viewed the purchase of environmentally sensitive land as their own domain as far as requesting lands," Pinkerton said. "We were not encouraged to request land in rounds one and two."

Federal agencies nominated stretches of the Muddy River and portions of the Spring Mountains, which benefits Clark County residents.

The county was caught off guard when it was criticized for nominating only less than 975 acres. Schlegel said the county government's focus has been on the wetlands park, which is in its jurisdiction.

Schlegel believes Question 1 on the November ballot authorizing the use of a $200 million bond for parks, wildlife and recreation is more reliable than federal funding.

Ensign in the last few weeks has spoken to Norton aides who said they would delay the proposed Nevada land buys until Clark County could request more land under the proposal. Norton is expected to soon place the 30-day hold on the land buys, Ensign aides said.

BLM officials have pledged to keep Ensign's office better informed about pending land buys, and to place a greater emphasis on approving land buys in Clark County, Ensign said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a strong supporter of the 1998 law, has been working with Ensign to help secure a 30-day delay and agrees the current list is weighted toward too many land buys in Northern Nevada, Gibbons spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said. It's possible a land-acquisition-ranking formula needs to be modified for future years to assure that lands are purchased mostly in Clark County, Spanbauer said.

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