More than a dozen elected officials, tribal leaders and activists held a press conference Thursday in Reno to condemn U.S. Representatives Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah. Those members of Congress introduced the last-minute measure to sell off 10,000 acres near the tourist town of St. George, Utah, and nearly 450,000 acres outside of Reno and Las Vegas.
The amendment was part of a Natural Resources Committee energy-related budget bill, which Republicans said would generate at least $18 billion in new revenue and savings. Most of the proposed land sales appear to be targeted for building affordable housing on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land.
Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said proposals to sell public lands should include public input.
“Public lands are something I'm going to be fighting for my entire life,” said Kuhlman, fighting back tears. “And in your life, no matter who you are or what you do, you're going to get punched in the mouth at some point.”
Tribal leaders raised concerns about the sovereignty of Indigenous lands. Other critics said the measure doesn’t address infrastructure or water in a region suffering decades of severe drought.
“We (Nevada) are the driest state in the nation,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. “What does this really mean? What do these public land sales actually mean? They mean more consumptive uses of our most precious resource in the state.”
In a press release, Amodei called the proposal a “first step” in efforts to support responsible development in Nevada, “while delivering a return for the American taxpayer.”
The amendment authorizing the sale of public lands in Nevada and Utah still faces a full House vote.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
