Today, Nevada’s senior U.S. Senator re-introduced legislation to sell off public lands in Southern Nevada, placating a long-running demand from real estate interests, President Trump, and Governor Lombardo. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto’s bill, the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (SNEDCA), exacerbates the problems of sprawl development in a community that just had its allocation of Lake Mead water cut last year.
The move to sell off public lands from the federal lawmaker arrives as President Donald Trump advocates for public land sales nationwide. The effort also dovetails with Governor Joe Lombardo’s pleas to hand over public lands to private interests in Nevada.
Bill proponents cast the legislation as necessary for housing. But nowhere in the bill are there guarantees that meaningfully support cost-effective home ownership or affordability for working families. The bill neglects to mention that 82,000 acres of infill land are available for development around Las Vegas, according to a study from the RTC.
“This is not a bill for working people who can barely afford to get by,” said Vinny Spotleson, Chair of the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe Chapter. “This legislation exists to enrich developers with cheaper land in currently undeveloped areas.”
SNEDCA remains a hot-button issue in Nevada after years of impasse at the federal level. The bill authorizes the sale of approximately 30,000 acres of lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management without considering the broad impacts to existing residents. The legislation allows for bypasses of important environmental reviews for public lands sales, averting studies about the influx of population, greater demands for water, higher prices for utilities, and other impacts to the quality of life in Southern Nevada that would traditionally via a federal Resource Management Plan.
Proponents of the legislation estimate that the bill will feed demand for an additional 800,000 more people who are predicted to come to Southern Nevada as Lake Mead sits at one-third full, electricity prices rise, air quality worsens, and considerable uncertainty looms over federal funding.
“This dangerous piece of legislation takes money out of the pockets of existing residents,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. “But it also takes Colorado River water to places where it’s never been before. With Lake Mead hovering at one-third of its capacity, this thirsty bill is not necessary or sustainable. Who will get left holding the bag: Those who can least afford it.”
The move to sell off public lands from the federal lawmaker arrives as President Donald Trump advocates for public land sales nationwide. The effort also dovetails with Governor Joe Lombardo’s pleas to hand over public lands to private interests in Nevada.
Bill proponents cast the legislation as necessary for housing. But nowhere in the bill are there guarantees that meaningfully support cost-effective home ownership or affordability for working families. The bill neglects to mention that 82,000 acres of infill land are available for development around Las Vegas, according to a study from the RTC.
“This is not a bill for working people who can barely afford to get by,” said Vinny Spotleson, Chair of the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe Chapter. “This legislation exists to enrich developers with cheaper land in currently undeveloped areas.”
SNEDCA remains a hot-button issue in Nevada after years of impasse at the federal level. The bill authorizes the sale of approximately 30,000 acres of lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management without considering the broad impacts to existing residents. The legislation allows for bypasses of important environmental reviews for public lands sales, averting studies about the influx of population, greater demands for water, higher prices for utilities, and other impacts to the quality of life in Southern Nevada that would traditionally via a federal Resource Management Plan.
Proponents of the legislation estimate that the bill will feed demand for an additional 800,000 more people who are predicted to come to Southern Nevada as Lake Mead sits at one-third full, electricity prices rise, air quality worsens, and considerable uncertainty looms over federal funding.
“This dangerous piece of legislation takes money out of the pockets of existing residents,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. “But it also takes Colorado River water to places where it’s never been before. With Lake Mead hovering at one-third of its capacity, this thirsty bill is not necessary or sustainable. Who will get left holding the bag: Those who can least afford it.”
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