In Nevada, where rental and housing costs have surged over the past few years, a new plan by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to develop affordable housing on unused acres of federal land across the United States is being hailed as “revolutionary” for the state.
According to a report published in Newsweek Wednesday, homebuilders, residents, and lawmakers from both political parties have been advocating for a similar approach to address the state’s growing crisis.
One of Trump’s campaign promises was to increase the essential housing supply in the U.S. by utilizing government-owned land to address the nation’s housing crisis.
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“The initiative could be revolutionary for many states in the Southwest and especially Nevada, where most of the country’s federal land is concentrated. In the Silver State, where over 80 percent of land is controlled by the federal government, homeowners — especially those with lower income levels — are struggling with a chronic shortage of homes that has only exacerbated in recent years, sending prices through the roof,” the report says.
An increasing number of affluent Californians, have, in recent years, moved to Nevada to take advantage of its more affordable housing market. This could partially be the reason for the state’s affordability crisis, per the report.
The Newsweek piece cited a 2024 report from the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada, saying that these newcomers had an average income approximately 93 percent higher than that of local residents.
“This influx resulted in a dramatic rise in demand and drove up housing prices as they often participated in aggressive bidding wars against local buyers,” the article notes.
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Although there is bipartisan backing in Nevada to utilize some federal land for constructing essential housing, there are substantial challenges that require federal government support to overcome.
“It is essential to streamline the regulatory process for releasing federal lands. Historically, building on federal land has been complicated by red tape, including lengthy environmental reviews, complex transfer protocols, and conflicting priorities among agencies,” Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) told Newsweek.
However, data from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicates that the Interior Department’s strategy to privatize federal lands for affordable housing relies on a model that has produced only a small amount of low-cost housing.
As of March 31, the BLM stated that out of over 17,560 acres of land overseen by the bureau in southern Nevada, only 30 acres had been sold directly for affordable housing under a law passed in 1998.
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A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
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Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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