Fed funds for parks, trails sought

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

Hoping to get a huge chunk of proceeds from the November public lands auction, Clark County has submitted to federal officials a record $257.4 million wish list for trails and parks project funding.

County officials expect the auction to bring in as much as $500 million.

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday approved the list that seeks $31 million for six regional trail projects, $175.6 million for 22 parks and community service projects and $50.8 million for one Regional Transportation Commission project.

The funding for each of the projects has to be approved by the Bureau of Land Management.

The county's 2003 request of $27 million was expected to be approved by the BLM this month, county officials said.

The huge request from the 2004 fund is designed to take advantage of large proceeds received from a recent public lands auction and from the total that is projected for the November auction.

The Public Lands Management Special Account was created as a result of the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. The account holds funds generated by the sale of surplus federal lands.

The money in the fund can be obtained by municipalities and the county to buy land for trails, recreational areas or environmental projects

The county's preferred trail projects, in order of priority, include:

The preferred park and community service projects, in order of priority: