U.S. Senate committee hearing considers Clark, Washoe land bills

Pushing federal legislation to make more land available for development has historically been a priority for the state's members of Congress from both parties. (Photo of Reno, Travel Nevada)

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A federal bill that could have major implications for future development in Washoe County received its first hearing Wednesday, marking a critical step towards becoming law.

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

About 80% of Nevada’s land is federally owned. Pushing federal legislation to make more land available for development has historically been a priority for the state’s members of Congress from both parties.

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

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

Another 30 acres of public land would be reserved for affordable housing. Federal land managers will need to consider if any of the 16,000 acres of public land for sale is suitable for affordable housing before approving the sale.

“Hardworking Nevadans are being squeezed by the rising costs of housing, making it nearly impossible to afford 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 Lands Bill is critical to increasing affordable housing in Washoe County and making more land available for economic development, while also permanently protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands and supporting Tribal communities. I’m glad to see it get a hearing and move one step closer to becoming law.”

The bill would also set aside about 774,000 acres of public land as Wilderness and National Conservation Areas to prevent further development. Nearly 174,000 acres of public land will also be designated as “withdrawal areas” under the bill, meaning they will be open for recreation, but settlement, sale, or development of the land is prohibited.

Earlier drafts of the bill attracted strong opposition from conservation groups, ranchers, Native American communities, and representatives of local governments, according to the Sierra Nevada Ally .

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 Lands 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.

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

Clark County Lands 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 Clark County Lands Bill, which was reintroduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on June 4, 2024. The bill was first introduced by Cortez Masto in 2021, but was stalled after Clark County pulled its support, leaving the bill in limbo.

“A significant amount of work has gone into this legislation over the last few years, but especially this last year as we have worked to support both environmental protection and responsible development,” said Tick Segerblom, Chair of the Clark County Commission in a statement , signaling the county’s renewed support.

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

During the hearing, the bill was supported by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. Washoe County and federal land managers would jointly identify parcels of land suitable for sale. Parcels considered suitable for sale will have to undergo a review by the BLM or the Forest Service before being sold.

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

The Clark County Lands Bill has also received significant pushback from conservation groups. Environmentalists argue the legislation would significantly increase impacts from urban sprawl, climate change, water use, air pollution, and wildlife habitat for threatened species.

Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said while the center supports the new conservation designations in the reintroduced legislation, he argued “they don’t offset the harms of creating a whole new city outside of the Las Vegas Valley.”

“Selling off public lands for more Las Vegas sprawl will harm wildlife like our beloved desert tortoise, worsen climate change by increasing pollution, and further stress the already dwindling Colorado River,” Donnelly said. “We’ve been pushing back against this bill for seven years and we remain steadfast in that opposition.”

While the Clark County Lands Bill has been sold as a solution to the housing crisis in Clark County, the Nevada Housing Coalition has warned that urban sprawl creates other problems , such as the lack of transportation infrastructure, and does little to create affordable housing.

The bill does not designate any particular land for affordable housing, but does allow local governments to submit an application to use land for affordable housing purposes, which the federal land managers would prioritize over other pending land use applications.

Olivia Tanager, the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe Chapter director in a statement argued that if the Clark County Lands Bill passed as currently written it “would cause irreparable damage for communities in Southern Nevada.”

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

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