Public lands ‘fire sale’ plan fuels criticism from Nevada

Channel 8 News Now 

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Public lands advocates, environmental groups and Nevada politicians issued strong reactions as details of a plan to sell off millions of acres emerged on Wednesday.

Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee’s plan could result in as much as 3 million acres at fair market value, with all the money going directly into the U.S. Treasury, where it will help pay for extensions to President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto asks a question during Wednesday’s U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

“It is clear that this language was developed behind closed doors without input from critical Nevada stakeholders because it ignores provisions for affordable housing and eliminates funding Nevada relies on for our schools and water conservation projects,” Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Wednesday night. BLM auctions in the Las Vegas valley generate millions in revenue for parks and recreation through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA).

“If we truly want to support affordable housing and economic development in Nevada, everyone needs to be at the table. Shoving lands sales in a reconciliation bill in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires is not the way forward, and I’ll continue to fight against this misguided proposal,” she said.

Public lands

Lee’s plan would sell off up to 3.3 million acres, according to the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. The majority of U.S. public lands are in the West, and 80% of Nevada is federally owned. The Bureau of Land Management controls 47 million acres (63% of the state) and the Forest Service owns 5.7 million acres. Those two agencies are ordered to sell land in Lee’s proposal.

At the end of the 69-page document detailing the plan, a single paragraph earmarks $500 million for “water conveyance enhancement” to restore or increase the capacity or use of existing conveyance facilities constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation.

The magnitude of the federal ownership of land in the West becomes clear in the plan’s goal of selling 0.5% to 0.75% of land under the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agriculture, which is over the Forest Service. The equates to 2.2 million to 3.3 million acres.

Wild horses on the Calico Complex. (Photo: Bureau of Land Management)

“Our organization has always upheld that this type of land sale could never fix the affordable housing crisis,” Olivia Tanager, executive director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, said Wednesday. “No one who needs affordable housing can afford to live in the outskirts of town with no access to public transportation, jobs, schools, or grocery stores.”

The Sierra Club is putting on five town hall meetings in Las Vegas to help explain Lee’s proposal. The first is tonight — Thursday, June 12, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Enterprise Library. A June 18 meeting at the Summerlin Library is from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Conservationist criticism

More than 100 groups opposed including public land sales in the “one big, beautiful bill” making its way through the U.S. Senate.

“Public lands are part of our national heritage, and people around the country have stood up and said ‘no’ to the MAGA public land fire sale,” Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said earlier in the week. “America needs these beautiful places for wildlife, people, clean air and clean water. Sen. Mike Lee is trying to ram public land sell-offs down Westerners’ throats, and we won’t stand for it.”

The reconciliation bill was passed by the U.S. House on May 22, but without Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei’s amendment to sell public lands. That provision was stripped out as Republican leaders moved to be sure they had the votes to pass the bill. Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, former U.S. Interior secretary during Trump’s first term, would have voted against the bill if it included the public land sales.

Lee’s bill exempts Montana public lands from the sale, but that might not be enough to swing his vote if the bill gets back to the House. “This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands,” Zinke told the New York Times last month. “Once the land is sold, we will never get it back.”

Cortez Masto and others have criticized Amodei’s tactic in using a late-night session for his amendment, escaping immediate public scrutiny. They have also criticized Lee, who didn’t release his plan until Cortez Masto pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) addresses reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 to introduce the America First Act.

‘Backroom deals’

“Yet again, decision makers in Washington D.C. are making deals behind closed doors and excluding the public on how to manage our public lands,” Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation,” said. “We already have processes in place to deal with the sale of public lands to address housing in the west which includes public participation. Circumventing nearly 50 years of tradition and trust in order to sell land to the highest bidder is not a precedent our decision makers should be making. I urge the Senate to listen to the hunters, anglers, hikers, and other public land users that make up the majority of westerners who want this proposal removed from the reconciliation bill.”

Kristee Watson, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, echoed that statement.

“This is what happens when you open the door to backroom land deals,” Watson said. “Mark Amodei lit the match, and now extremists in the Senate are fueling the fire, pushing a reckless sell-off of our public lands without public input or regard for the consequences. These lands are not ‘disposable’ — they fuel Nevada’s $8.1 billion outdoor economy, support thousands of jobs, and provide the open spaces that make our state special.”

Watson said the move isn’t about the housing crisis. “It’s about greed. Politicians in DC are once again trying to sell out Nevadans and put our public lands on the auction block to fund handouts for their billionaire buddies. We urge the Senate to reject this dangerous amendment and stand with Nevadans, not with out-of-state developers and wealthy interests,” she said.

“Senator Mike Lee should be ashamed of himself for using the housing affordability crisis as an excuse to sell public lands off to private developers,” Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, said. “Time and time again, Westerners have made it crystal clear that they want to keep public lands in public hands. Clearly Senator Lee isn’t listening.”