Norton will attend public-land auction

Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 9 a.m.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton will attend Thursday's sale of 1,030 acres of federal land, Interior officials said Tuesday.

Norton will attend the public auction to showcase a program that has turned over more than 7,800 acres of Bureau of Land Management to private ownership in the Las Vegas Valley, BLM spokesman Phil Guerrero said.

The auctions in that program, a dozen so far, have produced more than $220 million, most of it going to the purchase and protection of environmentally sensitive land in Clark County and the Lake Tahoe area, as well as improvements to the federal conservation and recreation areas at Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon.

While most of the proceeds go to conservation and recreation purposes, 5 percent goes to state schools and 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Most of the money -- 72 percent -- has gone to projects in Clark County, but other parts of the state have benefited. The government recently purchased 1,800 acres in the Lake Tahoe basin, the largest formerly private holding near the lake.

The combined acreage slated for sale Thursday is appraised at almost $133 million. Previous sales have brought in millions more than the appraised value.

The largest single piece of property for sale will be a 500-acre parcel near Kyle Canyon Road and U.S. 95. The property is appraised at nearly $59 million.

Also for sale is a 247-acre parcel near Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15, adjacent to the Southern Highlands master-planned community. The land is appraised at $37 million.

The sale will go on despite a federal court challenge. U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson denied a request for a temporary restraining order to stop it.

Robert Hall, president of the Nevada Environmental Coalition, sued to stop the sale, saying that the Bureau of Land Management has failed to disclose the impact that future development of the land might have on Las Vegas air quality.

Dawson ruled that Hall did not show evidence that the auction will cause immediate and irreparable harm.