U.S. Senate committee hearing examines Clark and Washoe land bills – Nevada Current

A federal bill that could have major implications for Washoe County’s future development was heard for the first time Wednesday, marking a crucial step toward passing law.

The Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act – commonly known as the Washoe County Lands Bill – would sell 16,000 acres of public lands in Washoe County to local governments for development and conservation projects . The current version of the bill was introduced by Senator Jacky Rosen earlier this year, in January.

About 80% of Nevada’s land is owned by the federal government. Pressuring federal legislation to make more land available for development has always been a priority for state congressmen from both parties.

In March, Rosen and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a co-sponsor of the bill, urged the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to hold a legislative hearing as part of a push to submit the bill to bill to the Senate for a vote. Rosen and Cortez Masto both called the bill a solution for land use and affordable housing in the county.

Under the bill, 3,467 acres of public land would be allocated to local governments in Washoe County for public use, including parks, water treatment facilities, a shooting range, schools and road expansions . The University of Nevada, Reno would also be allocated one acre of public land for public use, including a campus expansion, according to the bill.

An additional 30 acres of public land would be set aside for affordable housing. Federal land managers will need to determine whether any of the 16,000 acres of public land up for sale are suitable for affordable housing before approving the sale.

“Working Nevadans are being crushed by rising housing costs, making it nearly impossible to get a mortgage or rent. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to increase affordable housing options and help lower costs by making more land available for housing development,” Rosen said in a statement. “The Washoe County land bill is critical to increasing the number of affordable housing in Washoe County and making more land available for economic development, while permanently protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of land public and supporting tribal communities. I am happy to see that he has been heard and that he is taking another step towards the adoption of a law.

The bill would also set aside about 774,000 acres of public lands as wilderness areas and national conservation areas to prevent further development. Nearly 174,000 acres of public land will also be designated as “setback areas” under the bill, meaning they will be open for recreation, but installation, sale or development of the land is prohibited.

Early versions of the bill drew strong opposition from conservation groups, ranchers, Native American communities and local government officials, according to the ally of the Sierra Nevada.

However, several conservation groups and tribes have expressed support for the current version of the bill introduced by Rosen, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. If passed by Congress, the Washoe County land bill would expand more than 21,000 acres of land held in trust for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California.

Yet other conservation groups said the bill did not change significantly and would promote urban sprawl and negatively impact water resources. Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, opposed a 2020 bill and said his organization also opposes the current bill as written.

Clark County Land Bill

During Wednesday’s hearing, the committee also heard testimony on the proposed Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (SNEDCA), commonly known as the County Lands Bill of Clark, which was reintroduced by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto on June 4, 2024. The bill was first introduced by Cortez Masto in 2021, but was stalled after Clark County withdrew its support, leaving the bill in limbo.

“A significant amount of work has gone into this legislation over the past several years, but particularly this past year, as we have worked to support both environmental protection and responsible development,” said Tick Segerblom , chairman of the Clark County Commission. in a reportsignaling renewed support from the county.

The bill would designate 25,000 new acres of land in southern Nevada for development. In exchange, nearly 2 million acres of federally managed land would receive an official wilderness designation. The bill would also expand the famous Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area by nearly 66,000 acres.

At the hearing, the bill was supported by the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Washoe County and federal land managers would jointly identify land parcels that could be sold. Parcels deemed suitable for sale will require review by the BLM or Forest Service before being sold.

“The BLM supports the goals of the two Nevada bills on the agenda, which would provide direction for the future management of various federal lands in Washoe and Clark counties. Both bills include wilderness and other conservation designations that direct federal lands to be placed in trust for the benefit of local tribes,” said Karen Kelleher, deputy director of state operations at the BLMBureau of Land Management.

The Clark County land bill also received significant resistance from conservation groups. Environmentalists say the legislation would significantly increase the impacts of urban sprawl, climate change, water use, air pollution and wildlife habitat for endangered species.

Patrick Donnelly, director of the Center for Great Basin Biological Diversity, said that while the center supported the new conservation designations in the reintroduced legislation, he argued that “they do not outweigh the harms of creating a brand new city outside of the Las Vegas Valley.” .”

“Selling public lands to further expand Las Vegas will harm wildlife like our beloved desert tortoise, worsen climate change by increasing pollution, and further stress the already declining Colorado River,” Donnelly said. “We have opposed this bill for seven years and we remain steadfast in our opposition. »

While the Clark County land bill has been touted as a solution to Clark County’s housing crisis, the Nevada Housing Coalition has warned that urban sprawl creates other problemssuch as the lack of transport infrastructure, and does little to create affordable housing.

The bill does not designate any particular land for affordable housing, but allows local governments to submit a request to use the land for affordable housing, which federal land managers would prioritize over other use requests land in progress.

Olivia Tanager, director of the Toiyabe chapter of the Sierra Club, argued in a statement that if the Clark County land bill were passed as currently written, it would “cause irreparable harm to Southern Nevada communities “.

“While we support the bill’s conservation measures, we recognize that urban sprawl, without stronger provisions for affordable housing and accessible transportation, would exacerbate existing problems related to housing costs, drought and extreme heat,” she continued.