Amodei puts Nevada public lands up for sale in late-night amendment

Rep. Mark Amodei led House Republicans in approving a reconciliation bill Monday that included a late-night amendment to sell off more than 93,000 acres of public lands in Nevada — much to the chagrin of environmentalists and congressional Democrats.

The House Natural Resources Committee approved a portion of the Republicans’ budget package with an amendment put forward by Amodei, R-Nev., and Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah., allowing the sale.

The amendment would allow the sale of 65,129 acres of public land in Clark County — an amount equivalent to 71 percent of the area of city of Las Vegas — 15,860 acres in Washoe County, 12,085 acres in Lyon County, as well as an unspecified amount of forest service land in Nevada, according to Amodei’s office.

It also authorizes the sale or exchange of approximately 356,100 acres in Pershing County that were previously identified for disposal by the Bureau of Land Managemen to be exchanged at a 1-to-1 ratio.

The amendment specifies that the land in Clark and Washoe will be used for affordable housing. The land in Lyon County will be sold to the city of Fernley and be developed as the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center II, according to Amodei’s office.

Amodei who represents Northern Nevada, wasn’t immediately available for a comment Wednesday afternoon.

Proceeds to D.C., not Nevada

Nevada’s House Democrats complained that under the amendment pushed through the Amodei, the proceeds from federal land sales would not go to Nevada as previously done and insteasd go to help cover the Trump administration’s proposed tax cuts.

“Nevada gets screwed. We don’t get any of that money,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., in a phone interview Wednesday.

Lands bills have been on the table for years with multiple iterations, but they’ve never been successful. Titus said Amodei’s version does not include conservation elements.

“For decades, federal law has ensured that proceeds from land sales in southern Nevada stay in Nevada,” Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said in a statement. “Last night’s traitorous maneuver instead would send Nevada’s land proceeds to Washington to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”

Lee called Amodei’s proposal a “slap in the face to Nevadans” and pledged to fight it every step of the way.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., called the proposal “insane” and the “single biggest sell-offs of Nevada public lands in history.”

Cortez Masto and Lee had led the bipartisan Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, a years-long proposal to both help Clark County grow while also protecting acres for conservation. Cortez Masto said Amodei’s proposal ignores that longstanding effort.

Amodei’s amendment includes a savings clause to ensure that no proceeds deposited in the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act special account under previous lands sales are to be rescinded or redirected.

Tribes, environmentalists concerned

Native activists say the proposal targets Tribal homelands. The proposal targets the area near Nevada’s newest national monument, Avi Kwa Ame, as well as Gold Butte, and land that borders the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation.

“These are not excess acres,” said Taylor Patterson, executive director of Native Voters Alliance Nevada, in a statement. “These are Native lands. And the people advancing this know exactly what they are doing. This is the same story our people have lived through for generations. Erase us, sell what is left, and pretend it was never ours. But it was. And it still is.”

Environmentalists said the move bypasses standard procedures when it comes to selling public lands and limits public participation.

Kyle Roerink, executive director of Great Basin Water Network, said land sales have to go through a time-consuming Resource Management Plan process under the Bureau of Land Management and requires environmental impact statements as well as public participation.

By turning the land sales into legislation, that process is done away with, Roerink argued.

“Go back and watch any hearing on SNEDCA (Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act) in Congress. You know what you won’t see? You will not see an opponent get any time at the microphone in Congress,” Roerink said.

Where would affordable housing be?

Titus said Amodei’s proposal doesn’t address water and infrastructure. The land included in the proposal is not the suburbs of Vegas, but in areas like Mesquite, Searchlight and Moapa. Infrastructure improvements for power, water, sewers and roads will be required to accommodate that growth, she said.

There’s no limitation on development related to capping development if water levels drop, Titus said, and there is nothing in the proposal requiring developers to contribute to the cost of infrastructure.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.