Retirees Sandra and George Stewart began building their forever home in 1977, in a neighborhood off of Sahara Avenue and Jones Boulevard. They have lived there ever since.

George Stewart, a Vietnam War vet, said homeownership was a welcome prize for his service.

Now, there’s only one problem — the house’s septic system. When it was built, sewer lines did not exist in that part of Las Vegas, and the Stewarts say they now face pressure from local agencies to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to tap into the city sewer system so that the water they use can be recycled and sent back to Lake Mead.

“We’ve worked really hard and paid off our house,” Sandra Stewart said. “Then we retired, and now we’re on a fixed income. There is no way we can afford this. We’ll end up selling our dream home.”

The Stewarts were two of at least a hundred Las Vegas Valley residents who spoke to officials Wednesday during the public comment section of a special board meeting of the Southern Nevada Health District.

Board members, including several public officials from across the valley, unanimously voted to rescind proposed regulations for about 18,000 septic systems in the valley. More than 1,000 people showed up to a public outreach meeting last month to express their dissatisfaction with any change to current regulations.

Though not under consideration at Wednesday’s meeting or the last one, a previous version of the rules could have required homeowners to apply for a permit every five years for $226.

“All I want to say is I am very sorry,” said County Commissioner April Becker, following an hour of public comment that even included a caller from Sandy Valley. “I‘m thankful that you came out every single time. And as painful as these meetings are for me, I’m just happy I’m here right now to be able to vote the way you want me to.”

Water savings, but a supposed health issue, too

Southern Nevada agencies have long pushed for homeowners to consider tapping their homes into the larger wastewater recycling system in the face of what scientists call a “megadrought” that hasn’t let up in two decades.

Assembly Bill 220, signed into law in 2023, gave the Southern Nevada Water Authority the broad legal power to limit residential water use. The bill originally contained a provision that would have required septic-to-sewer conversions but was later amended to make the conversions voluntary.

The water authority has limited funds available to offset the cost of conversions should homeowners wish to apply. Available grants could cover the entire conversion, or at least a good portion of it.

Many homeowners who spoke, like Las Vegas resident Greg Austell, said they see the supposed water savings the region would gain from conversions as a thinly veiled attempt to facilitate the valley’s uncontrolled growth.

“It’s driven politically by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to get water credits,” Austell said. “Why? So we can increase expansion of the valley during a severe drought, which makes no sense. Water is essential to live. Why are we expanding?”

Southern Nevada’s water managers have said that growth is inevitable and necessary to stimulate the economy. Accommodating growth is built in to the region’s long-term water plans, which get updated yearly.

While Las Vegas City Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong voted with her colleagues on the board and said she admired the community’s persistence, she emphasized that the issue of septic-to-sewer conversions must be re-visited in the future.

“At some point, we’ve got to find a way to come to a happy medium, or a compromise,” she said. “Water is a real issue, and none of us will be able to remain living here without it.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Postal Service is commemorating the centennial anniversary of Route 66 with a set of eight stamps.

The stamps feature eight different photographs from each state that Route 66 runs through. For New Mexico, a photo shows a old Grants Cafe sign.

Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and stamp pane using existing photographs by David J. Schwartz.

The stamps will make their debut at the National Postal Forum, also known as the NPF, at the Phoenix Convention Center on May 5. The event will be free and open to the public.

Route 66 was established on Nov. 11, 1926. It originally stretched about 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Dubbed “The Mother Road” by author John Steinbeck, Route 66 became a national symbol of freedom and adventure.

News of the stamps is being shared online with the hashtag #Route66Stamps.

Lowrider stamps

In another nod to local car culture, the USPS will begin issuing its Lowrider Forever stamps in sheets of 15 beginning Friday.

The Trump Administration has tasked the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with boosting resource extraction from public lands across the U.S. That charge includes everything from establishing new oil and gas leasing in Alaska to expanding lithium mines in Nevada.

Now, Western Oregon is the latest area slated for increased commercial output by the BLM. On Feb. 18, the agency announced plans to increase timber harvesting across nearly 2 million acres. Supporters see the move as an economic necessity, while opponents worry about the environmental impacts.

BLM Oregon Timber Harvest: The Plan

The section of public land in question covers about 2.46 million acres of public land across 18 counties in Western Oregon. About 23% of the land is excluded from the project (including areas with low tree density and areas next to streams). That leaves about 1.9 million acres up for harvest.

In a public notice issued on Feb. 19, the BLM announced its intent to revise the resource management plan (RMP) for this area. An RMP is an expansive document that covers recreation use, regulations, and resource extraction for an area of public land. The last RMP for this area was approved in 2016. The agency stated that this “revision” would entail replacing the 2016 RMP with a new one.

The stated goal of the effort is to “seek an increase in sustained yield of timber harvest that aligns with the historically higher levels of production on BLM-administered public lands,” according to the agency.

The 2016 RMP allowed a total harvest volume of 278 million board feet, of which 9% was from large logs. In 2025, the total harvest measured 275 million board feet. The 2026 RMP aims to increase these numbers, but no document explicitly states the target number.

GearJunkie reached out to the BLM for further information, but did not receive a response.

Based on the language in the notice, it’s possible to approximate the levels that the BLM is aiming for. The document says it wants to return production to “historically higher levels of volume.” Data show that harvests peaked in 1964 at 1.638 billion board feet. From 1960 to 1989, the annual average was 1.078 billion board feet.

If the BLM achieves volume 1 billion board feet, that would be around a 260% increase from 2016’s numbers.

‘Reviving Local Economies’ & Reducing Wildfire Threats

The effort to boost timber production relates to Trump’s March 2025 executive order entitled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production.” The order mandated that agencies like the BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) “issue new or updated guidance regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty.”

“Bringing timber production back to historic levels is essential for reviving local economies and reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires,” Acting BLM Director Bill Groffy said in a press release. “President Trump has made it clear — enhanced domestic timber production is vital for our national security, economic prosperity, and effective wildfire management.”

The notice of intent also cited local economic impacts. It notes that more timber would deliver more jobs. When timber production decreased in the 1990s, “this revenue collapse triggered mill closures, job losses, and shrinking tax bases, devastating local communities and forcing counties to cut services and raise local taxes,” the BLM claimed.

The agency also connected increased timber harvesting with a reduction in wildfire risk.

“This RMP revision will assist in reducing fuel loads in order to battle these unprecedented and destructive fires and will aid in keeping the American people safe,” it said.

One of the counties in the RMP, Marion, experienced a major wildfire in 2020. The Lionshead Fire burned 192,000 acres and destroyed 264 homes.

BLM Oregon Timber Harvest Plan: The Opposition

Oregon Wild

Opposition to the move comes primarily from environmental groups. Oregon Wild, a conservation nonprofit, objected on several grounds. It’s concerned about the long-term health of these forests. It also fears the impact that increased timber production would have on wildlife such as the coho salmon and the northern spotted owl.

The production levels the BLM aims to return to in the 1960s occurred before these species were listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“It’s safe to assume the Trump administration is going to try to get back to roughly 1 billion board feet. However, that would be nearly impossible to do without logging coho salmon and other endangered species habitat,” Oregon Wild’s Communications Director Arran Robertson said in an email to GJ.

Oregon Wild also rejected claims that upping timber production would reduce wildfire risk.

“Clearcutting and similar forms of logging increase fire hazards for up to 50 years. Despite hotter, drier, and longer fire seasons, the Trump Administration aims to again prioritize this practice on public lands,” it said in a press release.

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club also criticized the move as industry-friendly.

“Opening up millions of acres to logging and supercharging harvest quotas isn’t some minor change — it’s a radical and dangerous departure from decades of careful management for the benefit of logging companies,” Forest Campaign Manager Alex Crave said in an email to GearJunkie. “It aims to take us back to the days of logging old growth across the northwest at a pace that was, quite literally, unsustainable.”

The local Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club was deeply concerned about how this effort would affect outdoor recreation.

“The proposed plan to quadruple logging levels is a threat to the very things that make Oregon Oregon: Forests with clear rivers and streams that provide water for thousands of rural residents and critical habitat for fish and wildlife. Rafting, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, and other incredible recreation opportunities that Oregonians enjoy and that draw the visitors that rural economies depend on,” it said.

What’s Next

The proposal is open for public comment until March 23. The BLM stated that it does not plan to hold any public meetings about the matter. In accordance with the law, the BLM will consult with Tribal Nations.

“Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due consideration,” it stated.

The agency will also be required to produce an environmental impact study for its proposed RMP. There is no clear timeline yet; the BLM has stated it wants to complete this process “in an expeditious manner.” Past revisions to RMPs have taken 3 to 4 years, and the BLM aims to finish the process more quickly this time.