Sunday, May 29, 2005 | 10:07 a.m.
LAS VEGAS - Money from Nevada land sales would go to education, wildfire prevention, noxious weed control, sage grouse protection and other natural resource programs under a bill being drafted by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
Gibbons said he's working on the proposal in an effort to head off the Bush administration's plan to take land sale revenues to close the budget deficit.
Gibbons said funds also could be spent on routine operations of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies in Nevada.
His proposal would shift priorities of the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act by setting aside 35 percent of land sale proceeds for education and 55 percent for federal land managers in Nevada.
The 1998 act now earmarks 5 percent of revenues for education and 85 percent for environmental purposes in Nevada, including acquiring environmentally sensitive land and making improvements at Lake Tahoe.
Under Gibbons' plan, the Southern Nevada Water Authority would retain its 10 percent share of land sale revenues.
Gibbons, who has opened talks with the White House to promote the plan, said he wants to show that land sale profits can be put to good use in Nevada.
"I know that if we do nothing, (the money) will sit there and grow and become even more attractive to others," Gibbons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I want 100 percent of the money spent in Nevada."
The plan to siphon off 70 percent of proceeds from the auction of federal land in the Las Vegas area to developers was included in Bush's $2.57 trillion budget.
Bush justified the proposal by noting that the 1998 act has raised far more money than expected. While the Congressional Budget Office anticipated $70 million in sales each year, proceeds from 2005 will top $1 billion.
Gibbons' proposal was criticized by other members of the state's congressional delegation, including Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., author of the 1998 act.
Now is not the time to meddle with the formula, said Ensign, who opposes the Bush administration's effort to divert land sale profits out of Nevada.
"Just like on Yucca Mountain, it's important we have a united front, that there are no breaks in it because there are people trying to get this money," Ensign said.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he opposes allowing the revenue to be spent on other programs, even within the state.
"I'm not going to be part of that," Reid said. "The BLM has certain responsibilities."
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., questioned the motives of Gibbons, who's expected to run for governor in 2006.
"To have a member of our delegation deliberately attempting to undermine our efforts for his own political ambition is the height of irresponsibility," Berkley said. "He is going down a slippery slope, and if he is successful he will take the state down."
But White House officials have expressed an interest in Gibbons' plan.
"We had a constructive meeting with U.S. Rep. Gibbons and are reviewing his proposal," said Scott Milburn, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.
---
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
--
archive
