• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Nevada Business Magazine

The Decision Maker's Magazine

Subscribe Now!

  • Subscriptions
    • Print
    • Mobile App
    • Email
  • Features
    • New This Month
    • View Issues
    • Cover Stories
    • Feature Stories
    • Industry Focus
    • Building Nevada
    • Special Reports
    • ReD Report
    • Press Release Wire
    • Nevada Industries
  • Departments
    • A Matter of Opinion
    • Around the State
    • Business Indicators
    • Commentary
    • Commercial RE Report
    • Crossfire
    • Expert Advice
    • Face to Face
    • Free Market Watch
    • Inside Politics
    • Power of Attorney
    • Profit & Loss
    • Speaking for Nevada
    • Tech.knowledge.me
    • The Last Word
    • Vital Signs
  • Planning Calendar
  • Advertising
    • Advertising Info
    • Advertising Staff
    • Submission Requirements
    • Online Advertising
  • Events
    • NBM Events
  • Contact
    • Contact the Staff
    • Contact Form
  • Connect
    • Business Directory
    • Press Release Wire
    • Business Calendar
    • Submit Listing
    • Post Press Release
    • Add Your Event
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
You are here: Home / Features / Building Nevada / Nevada Land: Priorities for Today in Planning for Tomorrow

Nevada Land: Priorities for Today in Planning for Tomorrow

March 1, 2017 By Doresa Banning Leave a Comment

Protecting counties from restrictive federal land policies, potentially transferring U.S. government-owned land to the state, creating state parks.Protecting counties from restrictive federal land policies, potentially transferring U.S. government-owned land to the state, creating state parks. These and other current land matters in Nevada, some in the courts, some ongoing, many controversial, are numerous.

That is, in large part, because the state contains the highest percentage of federally owned and managed land, 87 percent, a quantity that’s equivalent to the size of Michigan, including land and water. Further, federal agencies own more than 90 percent of the land in five Silver State counties—Nye, Esmeralda, Lander, Lincoln and White Pine according to data from the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO).

These governmental owners and overseers include the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (FS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The lands include national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, monuments and wilderness areas, such as the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Las Vegas and Pyramid Lake, northeast of Reno.

Only 1 percent of Nevada’s total land mass is owned by the state itself, said Charles Donohue, state land registrar and administrator, Nevada Division of Lands. Those acres house state agencies and enterprises, including museums, the National Guard, wildlife sanctuaries and parks. The remaining 12 percent of Nevada’s land primarily is privately owned.

Federal Land Challenges

Land management is at the heart of many disagreements with federal agencies in charge of properties in Nevada.

“We want our public lands managed in a manner that will help sustain not only the environment but, also, communities and local economies. We believe that there needs to maximum engagement with county governments; counties should have a role and a say in how those lands are managed,” said Jeff Fontaine, executive director, NACO. NACO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that represents the collective interests of Nevada’s 17 counties and advocates on their behalf concerning federal matters. A major focus is public lands.

That’s because more than 57 million people now live within 25 miles of these types of acres and two-thirds of BLM-managed lands sit within 50 miles of an urban area, according to NACO’s “2015 Summit on Public Lands in Nevada” report.

Additionally, public lands play a significant role in Nevada’s economy. They support the outdoor recreational and tourism industries as places to visit and on which to hunt, fish, camp, view wildlife and more. More than 7.5 million visits to BLM Nevada recreation sites were made in 2015, according to agency statistics.

Public lands also offer resources that attract new businesses and workers, thereby boosting the nearby economies. The same year, Nevada received $11.4 million from activities on BLM Nevada land, including mining, mineral materials, and geothermal and renewable energy programs.

The BLM’s stated purpose involves balancing resource use, recreation and conservation. However, one issue is the status of the BLM’s Resource Management Planning, or Planning 2.0, rule, a revised methodology for how the agency develops resource management plans, which became final on Dec. 1. In late January, Sen. Dean Heller co-sponsored and introduced a measure to have Planning 2.0 be considered for invalidation under the Congressional Review Act. This would require Congress’ disapproval of the act within 60 legislative days signed by the president, or in the case of a presidential veto, passage by two-thirds of both houses.

In developing the new planning guide, the BLM aimed “to increase public involvement and incorporate the most current data and technology into our land use planning,” the “Planning 2.0: Improving the Way We Plan Together” document noted. Yet despite some changes to the original document, various entities remain displeased with the final outcome because its general, rather than site-specific approach would harm energy and mineral development, recreation and grazing on public lands.

NACO, for instance, believes that Planning 2.0 “erodes the right of local governments to interact with the BLM and provide necessary input and comments and further removes the act of planning for uses and maintenance of public lands to Washington D.C.,” Fontaine said.

Sage-Grouse-Related Challenges

Underway is a federal agency proposal to withdraw 2.8 million acres in Nevada from future mining for 20 years because they’re in sagebrush focal areas that contain sage-grouse habitats and populations. The State of Nevada submitted a counterproposal that would reduce the total withdrawn acres significantly. The period of public comment on the proposed amendment and the draft environmental impact statement is underway and ends March 28.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” Fontaine said.

A lawsuit currently in the courts, brought by more than a handful of Nevada counties against the BLM and the FS, alleges the agencies didn’t consider local plans and conservation efforts when developing their land use plan amendments concerning sage-grouse habitats, which were approved in September 2015. Thus, the amendments are hindering development. For example, in the suit, Elko County asserted that it loses an estimated $31 million per year in agricultural, mineral and energy development and production.

Last month, Heller introduced the Greater Sage-Grouse Protection and Recovery Act of 2017, Senate Bill S. 273, which would allow states to implement their own specific conservation and management plans to protect greater sage-grouse populations and their habitats.

“The current heavy-handed sage-grouse plans needlessly impose restrictions on millions [of] acres of land in Nevada alone, threatening our western way of life while doing little to improve habitat. Our legislation allows western states the flexibility to choose the proper methods to improve the sage-grouse population while keeping Nevada’s economic stability and community needs in mind,” Heller wrote in a press release.

In another lawsuit, various environmental groups sued the FWS for its decision not to list the bi-state sage-grouse population segment as threatened or endangered. Five Nevada counties, represented by NACO, are intervening legally on behalf of the federal agency.

“We believe they got it right by relying on local and state conservation measures to protect sage-grouse habitat,” Fontaine said. “We think that is really a model for how conservation measures need to be done.”

Potential Change in Ownership

An ongoing, heated issue is the potential transfer of millions of acres of federal lands to the State of Nevada. House Bill H.R. 1484, the Honor the Nevada Enabling Act of 1864 Act, which Rep. Mark Amodei introduced in March 2015, proposed an initial transfer of 7.3 million acres, half within the checkerboard pattern along the Truckee River between Sparks and Wendover, the other half being property the BLM already has designated for disposal.

The lands would be used to support select beneficiaries, including all levels of public education; mental and medical health services; social, senior and veterans services; public programs for recovery plan development and implementation for candidate and threatened or endangered species; and “political subdivisions of the state, but only with respect to payment for services and infrastructure on conveyed identified federal lands that would otherwise be financed through property taxes or other revenues available to a political subdivision of the state,” the bill read.

With the second phase to have transferred millions more acres, passage of the bill eventually would’ve reduced federal agencies’ land ownership from about 87 to 75 percent, Amodei said. The resolution, however, died when the legislative session ended. Amodei represents Nevada’s second district, which is comprised of most of Lyon County, all of Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Pershing, Storey and Washoe counties and Carson City.

Amodei may reintroduce the bill, he said, but first is meeting with various groups to discuss their concerns. Those include the potentials for loss of lands and access for recreation, higher taxes to pay for wildfire fighting and threats to wildlife. Also, the congressman is working on development of a map that clearly demarcates lands under transfer consideration.

“We’re in the process of getting as much input as possible to see where we go,” Amodei said. “The ultimate goal for each individual [land] bill is to reduce the amount of federal land in each county and increase the land use decision-making process to locally elected officials, communities and stakeholders—not by bureaucrats at the BLM or forest service.”

Currently, per legislation, regular BLM land auctions only take place in Southern Nevada, once in the fall and once in the spring annually, and in White Pine and Lincoln counties, once a year, Rose said. In April of last year, for example, the agency sold 856 acres in 40 parcels for $85.4 million, according to its Final Sale Matrix. A BLM Nevada executive was contacted for comments but declined an interview.

Other Top-of-Mind Issues

Each year, the federal government pays Nevada’s counties payments in lieu of taxes, or PILT, amounts meant to offset their expenses in having to provide services on federal lands in light of their not receiving property taxes on those acres, Fontaine said.

“This is probably our top priority for federal legislation as it relates to public lands,” Fontaine added. “Every year, we lobby very heavily to make sure that Congress appropriates money for PILT at the level that’s authorized in the legislation.”

NACO also is working on concerns surrounding rights-of-way, or access to roads on federal lands, “trying to develop a process and the adjudication of request for title to these roads so the counties can maintain and keep them open for commerce, business, recreation and access,” Fontaine said.

State Land Objectives

The most exciting goal this year for the Nevada Division of Lands, Donohue said, is working toward bringing about 12,000 privately owned acres in west central Nevada into public use as the Walker River State Recreation Area, a part of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Explore Your Nevada initiative. The Division of Lands serves as the real estate agent for other state agencies, securing, selling, assigning and authorizing use of state lands.

“One of our priorities is to work through the legislative process and ensure the legislature that the state has the capacity to manage those lands after we take ownership,” Donahue added.

A similar undertaking will be to establish 315 acres of land in Clark County as Tule Springs State Park. It will require the legislature approving the requested 1.2 million in the governor’s budget for development at the springs and then the Division of State Parks developing the recreational expanse, Donohue said.

Tule Springs and Walker Basin would be the first major state parks developed in Nevada in two decades.

Donohue also intends to complete the final tasks involved in various federal land transfers to the state in White Pine and Lincoln counties “that have been really dragging along for an excessive amount of time,” he said. “Some of them are so close, they’ve never been closer,” he added. “The Ts have to be crossed, and the Is have to be dotted.”

Filed Under: Building Nevada Tagged With: Charles Donohue, Dean Heller, Desert National Wildlife Refuge, Division of Lands, Governor Brian Sandoval, Greater Sage-Grouse Protection and Recovery Act, Jeff Fontaine, Las Vegas business, Mark Amodei, NACO, Nevada Association of Counties, Nevada business, Nevada Division of Lands, Reno business, Senate Bill S. 273, Tule Springs State Park, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Walker River State Recreation Area

Sponsored Features

Sponsored Features

Nevada Medical Marijuana CardGet Benefits Now NuggMD

SNWA Water-Smart ProgramsHelp Businesses Reduce Operating Costs, Prepare for Shortage

MEET Las VegasA Meeting and Event Venue Unlike Any Other.

First Independent BankYour Prescriptions for Success

Advertise With Us

Advertise With Us. more details ►

Primary Sidebar

How About Now?Exit Planning

Industry FocusBuilders & Developers

The Return of Office 2019Nevada’s CRE Office Industry

Ready to WorkNevada Industry Excellence and an Opportunity-Driven Workforce

Nevada News & PR Wire

  • Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth Project Premieres New Website

  • CALV presents Commercial Education Day on March 13

  • Mountain’s Edge Community Garage Sale to Be Held March 2

  • Cure 4 The Kids Foundation Promotes Joseph L. Lasky III, M.D. to Director of Bleeding and Clotting Disorders

  • De Castroverde Law Group sponsors the Boyd School of Law Immigration Clinic student’s participation in the 2019 Immigration Law Competition at NYU

  • Jewish Nevada Promotes Sarah Small to Director of Young Leadership Development

  • Jewish Nevada Promotes Megan Weintraub to Director of Annual Giving and Women’s Philanthropy

  • Community leaders selected to serve on NCET board

  • SR Construction Names Robert Schenck as Senior Estimator and Debuts New Reno Office

  • Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas Hosts Valentine’s Day Weekend Events

  • Nevada REALTORS® President Keith Lynam speaks to international real estate group on Presidents’ Day

  • Nevada State College Hosts 2019 Provost Lecture Series for Social Analysis and Critical Thought

  • Henderson Chamber to present business networking mixer

  • PR Plus Partners with Three New Food & Beverage Industry Clients

  • MountainView Hospital Opens Level III NICU

  • Nevada State Bank names Nidhi “Nikki” Dadlani vice president and professional banking relationship manager

  • Licensing, certification for business owners the topic of workshop

  • RE/MAX Realty Affiliates Welcomes the Joshua Fink Group

  • Foundation Assisting Seniors Holds Annual Appreciation Dinner

  • Aberlewest to host $35 headshot event March 16

  • Divine Café at Springs Preserve Hosts Mediterranean Cooking Night

  • TuffSkin adds Rick Worman to Las Vegas sales and marketing team

  • Protective Surface, TuffSkin celebrates Mardi Gras at Infinite Trend

  • Max Pawn Offers 5 Tips for Purchasing Secondhand Items

  • Valentine’s Day shopping can be daunting, expensive: Tips to find gifts

  • At Max Pawn’s Valentine’s Day Doggie Date February 13, you can say, “I woof you, too.”

  • TMC Financing facilitates expansion of Hwang Law Group utilizing SBA 504 Loan

  • Bok Bok Chicken expands to the southwest with the opening of third location

  • RSAR Releases January 2019 Existing Home Sales Report

  • Ferrari Public Affairs Hires Key Personnel to Meet Client Demand

  • Henderson Mayor Debra March Receives Secretary of State Opinion on Re-Election Bid

  • Nevada State Bank hires Susan Stanton as human resources manager

  • Tielemans Design Creates 100th Anniversary Logo for Zion National Park

  • OptumCare Community Center – East offers new and ongoing events for March

  • OptumCare Community Center – West offers new and ongoing events for March

  • Northcap Commercial Multifamily Arranges Sale of Valley Vista Apartments for $3,308,000

  • RE/MAX Realty Affiliates Welcomes James Bull to The Lessinger Team

  • Las Vegas Based TRU Development Announces Pre-Leasing for KAKTUSlife

  • Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar to make western debut at Town Square Las Vegas

  • Southern Nevada home prices bounce back to $300,000

  • Pets of the Homeless now accepting cryptocurrency donations

  • Governor honors NCEDSV executive director, Sue Meuschke, for 30 years’ service to victims of domestic, sexual violence

  • Vision Sign and Sensory Interactive Create Dramatic LED Feature at Caesars Bluewaters Dubai

  • The Juice Standard Expands Their Menu Beyond Pressed Juices: Las Vegas’ First Cold Pressed Juice Bar Brings an Array of Smoothie Bowls and Signature Juice Fasts to Las Vegas and Henderson

  • Roseman University of Health Sciences Appoints Nevada State Bank’s Rita Vaswani, as Chairman of the University’s Campaign for the College of Medicine

  • Clark County Medical Society Alliance Hosts 18th Annual Spring Fashion Show, March 19

  • Ruth Furman invites business owners to interactive workshop on self-promotion

  • YurView premieres eight-week auto centric series with car club cruise along the Las Vegas Strip

  • Pisanelli Bice Welcomes Jordan Smith as Of Counsel

  • Northern Nevada Medical Center Breaks Ground on Freestanding Emergency Department in Northwest Reno to Serve Community

  • NAIOP Southern Nevada presents “The Future in Billions” at February breakfast

  • Chelsey Brice Joins Estipona Group as Account Executive

  • Great Basin Orthopaedics Offers New Personalized Options for Hip Replacement Patients

  • KPS3 announces Jenna Hubert promoted to creative director

  • Goodwill Southern Nevada Announces Staff Promotions

  • Las Vegas Based TRU Development Shares 2018 Contributions

  • Foundation Assisting Seniors Announces Inaugural Gala

  • 28 Libraries in Southern Nevada Now Safe Place Sites for Homeless Youth — Youth Mobile Crisis Intervention Program operated by Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth —

  • Sierra Integrated Systems Offers Remote Systems Monitoring Service for Computer Networks and Key Devices in the Reno-Tahoe Region

  • Reno startup, Financially Fit Employees™ (FFE)™ revolutionizes employee financial wellness

  • Western Elite Promotes Trenton Busby to Chief Operating Officer

  • Protective Surface, Tuffskin, to Showcase During Winter Las Vegas Market Jan. 27-31

  • NCJFCJ Announces a Record $12.9 Million in Awards in 2018 to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families

  • Nevada State College Announces Selection for General Counsel

  • MassMedia Announces Partnership with New Financial Services Client

  • New Southwest Las Vegas $28 Million Industrial Project Underway and Close to Raiders Stadium and Las Vegas Strip

  • Dwayne Eshenbaugh, AIA Installed as 2019 President, AIA Las Vegas

  • A Happy 2018 for Commercial Real Estate

  • Nevada’s Safety Consultation and Training Section Awards Ocean Spray with Prestigious Safety Honor

  • $100 Off Right Lawyers Consult Fee

  • The Regional Air Service Corporation Announces New Managing Director Carl Ribaudo

  • Portnoy Gallery Unveils 2019 “Portnoyed” Wall of Honor Inductees

  • Mercato Della Pescheria Inside the Venetian Las Vegas Installs a One-Of-A-Kind Josper Oven To Maximize Flavor

  • The Clark County Bar Association Names Sarah Thornton Volunteer of the Year for 2018

  • Naqvi Injury Law Welcomes New Attorney

  • RE/MAX Realty Affiliates Agent Sam Olson to Speak at RE/MAX R4 Convention

  • TheOfficeSquad named one of the “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” by Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2018 Entrepreneuer360 List

  • World’s Highest Performing Organ Procurement Organization Celebrates Sixth Record-Breaking Year

  • Nevada REALTORS® announce Leadership Academy Class of 2019

  • Ruth Furman discusses how to keep content from becoming chaos Jan. 23

  • NAIOP Southern Nevada announces newly elected 2019 officers and directors

  • Amy Keith Lessinger, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates Owner, Appointed to Serve on EDAWN Executive Board

  • National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Releases Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines

  • Colliers International – Las Vegas Welcomes Jennifer Lehr as Senior Associate

  • REMSA Trains and Graduates 16 Paramedics

  • RSAR Releases 2018 Fourth Quarter/December Existing Home Sales Report

  • Project 150 hosting discounted dress sale to support students

  • Dr. Timothy Dooley Joins Great Basin Orthopaedics

  • Drummond Law Firm in Las Vegas Awards $1,000 Scholarship

  • National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Named Honorable Mention Recipient in Prestigious PR Daily Nonprofit Awards for Annual Report

  • New Year, New Reasons To Love Tivoli Village

  • NAIOP Southern Nevada presents “Past Presidents Panel” at January breakfast

  • Northcap Commercial Multifamily Arranges Sale of Summit Estates Apartments for $1,115,000

  • Henderson Chamber of Commerce to host networking mixer

  • Southern Nevada housing market slowed down in December

  • Lake Las Vegas Kicks off 2019 With Event to Showcase New Home Communities — Pulte Homes and Blue Heron headline January 13 unveiling

  • LGBTQ Real Estate Group Hosts Mixer January 15 — National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals recently formed Las Vegas chapter

  • Bank of Nevada Receives Award of Excellence for Its Commitment to Legal Aid Services

  • REMSA and Care Flight Welcome Deborah Kotrady as Clinical Education Nurse

  • Southwest Medical Associates adds eight new health care providers



 
Submit Your News & PR
Submit Your News & PR

Business Connection

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Nevada Business Calendar

  • HBRC Seminar Room (in the Wells Fargo Building)
    February 21, 2019 7:30 am

    Location: 112 S Water St, Henderson, NV 89015, USA

    More details...
  • Henderson Chamber to present business networking mixer
    February 28, 2019 5:00 pm

    Location: Strathmill Ave, Henderson, NV 89044, USA

    More details...
  • Mountain’s Edge Community Garage Sale to Be Held March 2
    March 2, 2019 8:00 am

    Location: 9275 S Buffalo Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89178, USA

    More details...
View Full Calendar ►

Nevada Business Directory

Featured Businesses
Find a Nevada-Based Business Submit Your Business

Nevada Industries

Architects & Engineers
Arts & Culture
Banking
Commercial Real Estate
Construction
Credit Unions
Economic Development
Education
Financial Management
Healthcare
Human Resources
Insurance
Law
Manufacturing
Marketing
Media
Mining
Philanthropy
Residential Real Estate
Rural Nevada
Sports
Tax Planning and Accounting
Technology
Telecom
Tourism
Transportation

Footer

Subscriptions

  • Print Subscription
  • Mobile App
  • E-mail Subscription

Editorial

  • Features
  • Departments
  • Events

Advertising

  • Advertise
  • Submission Requirements

Connect

  • Contact
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2019, Business Link LLC dba Nevada Business Magazine and Nevada Business Journal. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
Nevada Web Design services by Nevada Central Media using Genesis Framework by StudioPress