Progress, nature at odds in land fight

By Buck Wargo

Thursday, March 30, 2006 | 6:33 a.m.

Looking to protect rare plants and fossils, the Bureau of Land Management has opened the door to ruling out development on more than 13,000 acres in the northern Las Vegas Valley.

In a move that disturbs Las Vegas officials and homebuilders - but delights environmentalists - the BLM plans to conduct a 30-month study analyzing the potential environmental impact of development on a conservation area.

The study could more than double the acreage to be preserved in the Upper Las Vegas Wash along the northern edges of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

The federal agency had appeared ready to set aside 5,298 acres by this summer, but the study gives environmentalists an opportunity to press their case for setting the conservation-area boundaries at 13,467 acres.

Even if the boundaries remain close to 5,300 acres, the 30-month study will delay any auction of federal land by Las Vegas or North Las Vegas by at least three years.

That has Las Vegas officials crying foul and mulling options to speed up the development planning process for land they expected to be available for master-planned communities. Las Vegas had been preparing to spend millions of dollars on designing and installing water and sewer lines and other infrastructure to serve the area, where it controls 12 square miles, or about 7,600 acres.

"For us to spend multimillion dollars in planning infrastructure only to be told 30 months from now that you don't have any land for development is harmful to the city," said Chris Knight, Las Vegas' administrative services director.

"We need a decision, and we need one now to go forward with the planning. If we wait three years to do the planning, the impact of that 30 months puts us on hold for six years (for any auction). It has a domino effect."

The BLM launched an environmental study of the Las Vegas Valley in 2002 when Congress expanded the amount of federal land to be auctioned by 22,000 acres. The study showed the Upper Las Vegas Wash had sensitive resources that needed protection, prompting the BLM to identify 5,000 acres to be removed from federal auctions and to plan further reviews to determine the conservation area's exact boundaries.

"This is such a significant piece of land," said Juan Palma, the BLM's Las Vegas field manager.

"People have known for generations that this area is rich in paleontological resources. There is stuff millions of years old ... We only have one bite of the apple to preserve these resources, and we want to make sure we do it right and protect them for future generations."

The Sierra Club and other environmentalists favor preserving 13,467 acres, covering an area that contains rare Las Vegas bearpoppy and buckwheat and ancient animal bones.

That would quash Las Vegas and North Las Vegas plans to build homes in the northern corridor. The two cities favored preserving 3,300 acres.

"There's a lot to celebrate," said Jane Feldman, conservation chairwoman of the local Sierra Club chapter. The additional environmental review, she added, "will give us a deeper understanding of what's going on in that area."

"Those resources are too precious not to do it right," she said.

Knight said he doubts the additional study will provide any insight in helping to establish the conservation boundaries. The delay hurts Las Vegas more than Henderson and North Las Vegas, he said, because the other cities have other options for development.

"The concern we have is on the economic impact it has on the city," Knight said. "It won't affect the city of Las Vegas today, but it will three to five years from now. It is our future."

North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon said the city had no interest in auctioning any federal land in the next 30 months but is concerned if the conservation area is enlarged and removes land from development.

"I hate to think about it," Montandon said of the additional study.

"We have been aware that the environmental concerns have been foremost for them for a little while now. We are still willing to work with the BLM. Our kids have to live here, too. We want to make sure everything is done right. My concern, however, has always been that it be reasonable."

Palma, noting the need for balance between development and environmental protection, said there already is plenty of private land for sale in the corridor.

There are an estimated 85,000 acres of private property and 15,000 acres of federal land available for development in Southern Nevada, said Brian Gordon, a principal at the research firm Applied Analysis.

Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc., said any time land is removed from housing development, it could push up prices.

"The bottom line is the number of acres available to develop in the valley is limited, and when you have a limited commodity, it is going to place pressure on the pricing," Smith said. "Don't expect land prices to come down."

Homebuilders, who propose preserving 5,320 acres, fear that waiting three years to set the conservation area's boundaries will lead to further degradation of it, said Monica Caruso, a spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. A plan is needed immediately that allows the site to be monitored and protected, she said.

Palma expressed concern about off-road vehicles disturbing the site, but it will take years to install fencing to preserve the area. Not only is the area used by all-terrain vehicles and four-wheel drive vehicles, but it also is being littered by trespassers, said Gayle Marrs-Smith, a BLM botanist and manager of the conservation area project.

"People are using it as a play area and there is damage to the plants, fossils and soil," Marrs-Smith said. "We are concentrating law-enforcement patrols out there, but it is such a big area."

The BLM will work with Utah State University on its detailed environmental review that looks at several options for preserving land - in areas ranging from 5,298 acres to 13,467 - and the effect of development.

The BLM and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have the final say on the boundaries, but the extra environmental review will give the public more of an opportunity to weigh in on the issue, Marrs-Smith said.

Some conservationists have suggested that the area be declared a National Conservation Area similar to Red Rock Canyon west of Las Vegas or Sloan Canyon south of Las Vegas.