By Cydney Cappello (contact)

Thu, Oct 23, 2008 (6:21 p.m.)

U.S. Sen. John Ensign and former Nevada senator and governor Richard Bryan joined other officials Thursday for the 10th anniversary of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which has plowed billions of dollars into the Las Vegas area.

“Today feels like the celebration of a birthday with one of your children, the way I feel about this legislation,” Ensign said. "When senator Bryan and I first started talking with various folks around the Hill, none of us ever imagined it was going to be as good as what it turned out."

The act was written by Ensign and Bryan and became law in October 1998. It allows for the sale of public land around Las Vegas with proceeds going to the State of Nevada Education Fund, Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Secretary of the Interior. Since the act’s introduction, it has raised more than $3 billion.

Bryan said the act has made resources available for education, infrastructure and conservation efforts in the Las Vegas area.

"This is a public policy trifecta," he said. "This is a win-win situation."

Several projects in Clark County were funded by the act, but it also affected the reshaping of nearby Lincoln County.

“When we talk about having a park in my county, in Alamo there was a three-acre park that had one swing and one slide. Through these funds there is an actual park that looks like a park that has things for kids to play on and places for them to sit and places for you to get out of the shade -- and for a small community that’s awesome,” Lincoln County Commissioner Ronda Hornbeck said.

A news conference Thursday was held at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., which was funded through the act.