Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

What to do with all this empty land?

Bureau of Land Management

Steve Marcus

About 67 percent of Nevada’s land is controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Make your voice heard

To comment on the plan:

• Visit tinyurl.com/qzvaht7

• Email [email protected]

• Fax 702-515-5023

• Mail the BLM Southern Nevada District Office at 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130​

The Bureau of Land Management wants your input on a new plan that governs how 3.1 million acres of federal lands in Southern Nevada are used.

But if you plan to read the whole report before weighing in, pull up a chair and grab your reading glasses. The voluminous document, known as a Resource Management Plan, covers 2,200 pages and includes 18 appendixes, 90 maps and 191 tables.

Its length and complexity underscore the importance of the plan, which will guide the use and development of federal lands for the next several decades, affecting everyone from ranchers to environmentalists to hikers to hunters.

“There’s the side that feels this land should never be used, nobody should go on it, and it should be preserved for generations to come,” Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak said. “Then you have the other side that thinks they should be able to do whatever they want — hunting, fishing, off-roading, whatever.”

The potential impact of the plan to reshape how public lands are used and accessed has drawn a strong response, as many Nevadans already chafe at the BLM’s presence.

One of the loudest critics has been Cliven Bundy, the rancher who ignited a tense standoff last year with the BLM over the use of federal lands for grazing in rural Clark County.

The Nye County Commission issued a resolution in January opposing the BLM’s plan, accusing the agency of disregarding “local customs, traditions and culture” and not doing enough to include local governments in the planning process. Others have complained the plan is too complex for average citizens to understand and that the online system for leaving comments is difficult to navigate.

In response, the BLM twice has extended its window for public comment, currently set to end March 9.

Barbara Luke, a UNLV professor, has submitted feedback on the plan as a member of the Red Rock Citizens Advisory Council, which wants to see a portion of land near Red Rock protected from future home development. Luke admitted the system for submitting feedback was complicated — “You have to work at it” — but said she was glad a plan that hasn’t been updated since 1998 was moving forward.

“The plan that’s in place now is so old and out of date compared with what has happened in Southern Nevada over the intervening years,” Luke said. “We can’t keep putting our heads in the sand and pretending development hasn’t happened.”

The plan calls for 278,000 acres of land, about two-thirds the size of the Las Vegas Valley, to be designated as areas of critical environmental concern, which would add restrictions to protect wildlife habitat, scenic landscapes and cultural resources. Another 25,000 acres would be opened for development of solar energy projects. Other parts of the plan outline where vehicles can be driven off road, designate utility corridors, adjust recreation areas and manage natural resources.

The BLM produced four plans for land use — its “preferred” plan and three alternatives, including one that would maintain the rules laid out in 1998.

Sisolak warned that no group would get everything it wanted out of the Resource Management Plan but said it was important they all gave feedback for the BLM to consider.

“There’s going to be a plan implemented, and everybody needs to be at the table,” he said.

Once the public comment period ends, BLM staff will compile the responses and incorporate any changes into a final proposed Resource Management Plan. Once that’s done, likely in the fall, citizens will have one more chance to register protests.

The final plan is scheduled to be approved and implemented late this year or early next year.

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