CARSON CITY, NV – A proposal to support selling off tens of thousands of acres of public land died in the Nevada Senate after failing to pass a key deadline on Friday.
AJR10’s defeat in the Nevada Senate underscores the widespread opposition to federal land sales in the Silver State and adds another chapter in the 8-year fight over sprawling Southern Nevada to the California border.
AJR10 supported and referenced federal legislation from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to sell off large swaths of public lands in Southern Nevada, a bill that has long raised concerns about water supplies, sprawl, transportation, and the cost of living for front-line communities.
The demise of AJR10 arrives at a time when government officials at all levels are debating whether public land sales will create affordable communities and new revenues in the hottest, driest regions in the nation. Governor Joe Lombardo and Clark County Commissioners see the Trump Administration as a willing partner and have long wanted public land sales via Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act.
Recently, Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei attempted to sell off federal land to raise revenues for the “big, beautiful” tax bill moving through Congress. But that attempt failed after former Interior Secretary and current Congressman, Ryan Zinke, R-Mont, removed the public-land-sale provisions.
AJR10, which was sponsored by the Democrat Majority Floor Leader, Sandra Jauregui, mentioned a “housing crisis” in Nevada. But Cortez-Masto’s legislation makes no guarantees to build affordable housing in the state. Reporting by the Las Vegas Review Journal shows that there is an influx of available homes on the market.
“In recent days we’ve seen the likes of Dina Titus and Ryan Zinke take definitive action to stop public land sales,” said Vinny Spotleson, Chair of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. “The Nevada Senate’s definitive action on AJR 10 represents more bipartisan opposition and a grassroots uprising to the ongoing efforts to sprawl Southern Nevada.”
“The Nevada Senate saw the writing on the wall and did the right thing,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of Great Basin Water Network. “With Lake Mead at 30 percent, Selling off public lands is unpopular, unsustainable, and unsound. Let’s hope politicians like Senator Cortez Masto take note and focus on a new path forward.”
“It is a win for Nevadans that this urban sprawl resolution was not endorsed by the Nevada Senate. Urban sprawl risks increasing extreme temperatures, worsening resource strain, and deepening social inequities,” said Jackie Spicer, Coalition Coordinator of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition. “Sprawling cities have more heat-related deaths than highly dense cities, and Clark County already saw over 500 deaths from extreme heat last year alone. We cannot ignore the consequences of sacrificing communities within the urban heat islands for unsustainable growth.”
In December 2024, RTC Southern Nevada released the results of a study that found tens of thousands of acres of infill available in Las Vegas Valley, Henderson, and Mesquite, further demonstrating that our public lands do not need to be sold off for housing development.
Senator Cortez-Mato’s bill will allow for thousands of acres of land to be sold. A current provision under federal law allows the Bureau of Land Management to sell off select lands in Southern Nevada. Currently, there are more than 20,000 acres available for auction that were approved by Congress years ago. But lawmakers in Congress want BLM to release more land without much consideration of the consequences. For years, the Sierra Club, the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition and Great Basin Water Network have raised concerns about the plight of existing residents who are managing higher costs of living, skyrocketing utility bills, heavy traffic, and uncertainty about water availability.
