Las Vegas-style public lands bill pitched for Reno

Northern Nevada communities could get a taste of Las Vegas-style land management practices if Washoe County officials get their way.

A draft of the proposed Washoe County Economic Development and Conservation Act seeks to replicate the idea behind the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, also known as SNPLMA.

Since Congress passed the southern Nevada version which became law in 1998, sales of federally owned land in the Las Vegas-area generated more than $3 billion, much of which has been used to fund conservation in Clark County and around Nevada, including at Lake Tahoe.

“Why can’t we do a northern Nevada version of SNPLMA,” said Washoe County Commission member Bob Lucey, who is leading the effort to create a bill draft for Congress.

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Although SNPLMA is credited with helping boost development in Southern Nevada while funding important conservation projects throughout the state, Washoe County conservationists say the northern version, as currently drafted, is deeply flawed.

“I think that the county is focused much more on development than conservation for Washoe County,” said Shaaron Netherton, executive director of Friends of Nevada Wilderness.

Even if Washoe County were to finalize a proposal, a lands bill would need to be introduced and approved by Congress to become law.

Broadly speaking, both SNPLMA and the proposed Washoe County version identify areas of federally owned land near existing communities where parcels could be sold for development.

The bulk of the money from the sales is then set aside for conservation projects with smaller amounts earmarked for other public services.

There's no estimate for how much money a northern version of the idea would generate.

The Washoe County version is divided into economic development and conservation components.

The economic development portion is represented by a federal lands disposal boundary that reaches from the edge of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation in the north to the northern edge of Washoe Valley in the south. It has a similar boundary around Gerlach.

Within the boundaries Washoe County could nominate federal land for sale, which would generate money for conservation and public projects.

Under the conservation component, the bill calls for the designation of 175,000 acres of wilderness, 83,000 acres of National Conservation Area and the removal of the wilderness study area designation from 404,000 acres.

“It gives us the opportunity to grow smart in our area as well as preserve some land that should be preserved,” said Dave Solaro, assistant county manager.

County officials say a northern version of SNPLMA would boost economic development by putting more property in private hands. Currently, the federal government owns about 83 percent of the land in Washoe County.

Sales would also generate cash flow for projects that can be difficult to fund, such as drought mitigation, wildfire prevention and sage grouse habitat preservation.

“This Lands Bill gives the local governments a say in where land is sold and developed to ensure it is sustainable and supportable growth,” the county’s fact sheet on the proposal states.

While conservationists generally agree SNPLMA produced benefits for Las Vegas and the entire state of Nevada, they say the proposed Washoe County version as drafted would harm northern communities and the environment.

“As it is currently being proposed I think we are setting ourselves up for disaster,” said Brian Beffort, director of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Conservationists highlighted what they see as problems with both the economic development and conservation components of the draft.

Beffort said the map depicting the federal land disposal boundary is drastically short on details when it comes to preventing uncontrolled development and environmental damage within the Reno-Sparks area.

“There is very little information about what within that boundary is proposed for protection,” Beffort said.

He said the county should overlay the economic development map with constraints that restrict development; such as trail heads, cultural sites, riparian areas, habitat and open space needed for critical purposes such as capturing rainwater for the aquifer.

“The county has identified these values as worth protecting but the latest maps and this disposal boundary doesn’t indicate those at all,” he said.

Lucey said the development constraints would be built into the land sales process and Solaro said a map depicting restrictions is in production.

Lucey also said public land within the boundary that’s already in use for recreation wouldn’t be sold.

“Just because it lies within the boundary doesn’t mean it is going to be sold,” Lucey said.

Within the conservation component, which covers remote land outside the economic development zone, Netherton criticized the draft for suggesting the removal of the wilderness study area designation from more than 400,000 acres of land.

“The county in some of their meetings decided to take a pretty radical approach,” Netherton said. “Frankly, we are appalled.”

She said wilderness advocates wanted to apply a wilderness designation to about 440,000 acres.

Under the county’s proposal there would be no wilderness designation for the Fox Range wilderness study area southwest of Gerlach and greatly reduced wilderness protections for Massacre Rim and Sheldon Contiguous areas near the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally celebrated area for hunting and wildlife conservation.

The county proposal also excludes the Wall Canyon area, which is home to the native Wall Canyon sucker fish.

Netherton said the benefits of wilderness protection justify the restrictions, such as the exclusion of off-highway vehicles and mountain bikes.

She said the Mt. Rose Wilderness near Reno is an example of how wilderness protections help make a community a more desirable place to live.

“I think having Mt. Rose as the backyard wilderness for Reno is a huge draw,” she said.

More wilderness designations, she said, could give people who want to avoid weekend crowds on Mt. Rose trails another option for exploring protected land.

“It is absolutely clear that quality of life, outdoor recreation is the future of these areas,” Netherton said.

Washoe County is hosting two public meetings on the proposed bill.

A public meeting Tuesday, April 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will focus on the economic development component.

Another meeting Thursday, April 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will focus on the conservation component.

Both meetings are scheduled to be held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, 4590 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89502.