Hearing to be held on public-land sales

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 8:34 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional field hearing early next month will focus on ways to update a federal law that controls land auction sales profits in Southern Nevada.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., vice chairman of the House Resources Committee, will conduct a hearing about "the dispensation of funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act" on Dec. 4.

Gibbons plans to introduce a bill next year that would divert more funds from public land sales to education programs in the state, although that is not the sole focus of the hearing, spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.

The law, created in 1998, uses proceeds from Bureau of Land Management auctions to pay for education, conservation and other state programs.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. -- who helped create the law when he was in the House -- and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., sponsored legislation this year that would use some of the funds from the act for environmental protection projects at Lake Tahoe.

The hearing will take place at 10 a.m. on Dec. 4 at the County Commission Meeting Chambers in County Government Center in Las Vegas.

A witness list is still being compiled, Spanbauer said.