Norton OKs $493 million for Nevada conservation

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, a ranking member of the Bush administration criticized by environmentalists for catering to business interests, announced her approval Thursday of $493 million to be spent for conservation-related purposes in Nevada.

Norton made the announcement at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, which will receive $27 million for continued environmental restoration work at the historic site off Valley View Boulevard.

A group of about a dozen protesters from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups carried signs outside the preserve attacking the administration's policies.

Norton attended the signing ceremony for the $493 million with Republican Chip Maxfield, chairman of the Clark County Commission; Rep. Shelley Berkley, the Las Vegas Democrat; Bureau of Land Management State Director Robert Abbey; and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

Ensign, while still a congressman in 1998, helped draft and pass the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act that calls for the sale of land in Clark County with proceeds going to conservation and recreation purposes, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and the state's public schools.

"These funds will go for conservation, recreation, open-space activities throughout Nevada," Norton said before signing over the money. Just shy of 90 percent of the money will be spent in Clark County, she said.

As she has before, Norton said the land management act could serve as a model for other areas, including other parts of Nevada, which are largely owned and managed by the federal government.

"There are other areas where these kinds of projects might work," Norton said. "It's something that other communities are thinking about."

Maxfield, who also is chairman of the board running the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, said Norton's visit to Southern Nevada is good news.

"Every time I've had the pleasure to be in the company of Secretary Gale Norton something good has happened to Nevada," he said.

Maxfield pointed to the mix of wetlands and dusty raw earth in the preserve. Money from the land sales will pay for desert gardens, an amphitheater, children's play areas, education exhibits, regional trail connections and other improvements to the preserve, he said.

"It is just beginning," he said. "You can see all the construction that is going on."

Ensign agreed.

"I'm really glad she (Norton) is here today because she brought her checkbook," he said.

The BLM auctions have provided much more income for various conservation efforts than originally estimated, Norton and Ensign noted, because of the skyrocketing value of vacant land in and around Las Vegas.

To date, the sales have generated more than $694 million. Of that, the law sends 5 percent to the state's school trust fund and 10 percent to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The remaining 85 percent goes to the conservation, recreation and environmental purposes.

The laundry list of projects to be funded throughout Clark County -- and one big one for Lake Tahoe -- includes $230 million for work on parks, trails and natural areas, $47 million for purchases of environmentally important land, $48 million for conservation initiatives and $88 million for capital improvements to the region's recreation and conservation sites. Among the projects funded by Norton's action Thursday are:

Some of the other Southern Nevada projects include: $15.8 million for improvements to Clark County's Sunset Regional Park, $15.8 million for construction of a regional shooting park to be administered by Clark County, $3.7 million for an anti-littering and dumping program in the desert and $1.1 million for the purchase of inholdings at Calico Basin in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Henderson projects receiving funds include $12.1 million for Cornerstone Lake Community Park and $10.1 million while North Las Vegas gets $9.8 million for a regional trail.

Lake Mead receives $9.5 million for work to mitigate the impacts of the ongoing drought on boat ramps and marinas and $4.7 million for a public safety communication center.

Another $15.7 million will purchase almost 24,000 acres of sensitive river land in Northern Nevada's Washoe and Humboldt counties.