Investing in public lands will pay off

It seems we hear every day about efforts in the West and Nevada to transfer public lands and turn them over to the highest bidder.

During the 2015 Nevada legislative session, we beat back an effort by Cliven Bundy and his bullies to cut off access to our public lands. During that debate, there were several people who testified about the importance of the shared land both as a rightful heritage to those generations that follow and also as an economic boon to our state.

We also are fighting the battle to protect our public lands at the federal level. Federal investment in conservation, recreation and historic preservation has been on the decline in recent years. With Congress expected to finalize federal funding in the weeks and months ahead, programs essential to our outdoor heritage are facing deep and irresponsible cuts. Nevada’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and outdoor recreation, and the funding provided each year supports and sustains jobs and economic activity throughout our state.

My work as a legislator on the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and with the organization Friends of Gold Butte has shown me firsthand the impact conservation and outdoor recreation has on Nevada. Many Nevadans who hike, camp, hunt or fish may not realize that outdoor recreation is a multibillion-dollar industry. In Nevada alone, it accounts for over $14 billion in consumer spending, 67,500 direct jobs, and $1 billion in state and local tax revenue.

Nevada families were hit hard during the Great Recession. We are slowly recovering, in part, by diversifying our economy and increasing our marketing to national and international tourists, emphasizing that our outdoor spaces are as iconic as the Las Vegas Strip. With the recent addition of two national monuments in Southern Nevada — Basin and Range and Tule Springs — we are poised to attract even more outdoor enthusiasts to visit and live in our great state.

However, all of this could be for naught because our national treasures are now under threat. Without vital federal investments, the conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation programs that are a key to the future of our state will cease to exist. Creating national parks has long been considered “America’s Best Idea.” The stunning and pristine beauty held within our national parks and other federally managed land is a gift to everyone. But when Congress cuts funding for our outdoor heritage, it results in degraded wildlife habitat, closed trails and dilapidated facilities. Unless we invest in our public lands, we’ll never be able to diversify our tourism economy.

This funding, which is less than 1 percent of the overall federal budget, supports jobs, businesses, clean water, fish and wildlife, public lands and preservation of our national treasures in Nevada and across our nation. It is an investment that pays us all back, many times over. The fate of our outdoor heritage is being threatened. Join me in asking Congress to invest in our public lands by giving our Interior budget a modest raise. It is an investment that we know will pay off.

Assemblywoman Heidi Swank (D-Las Vegas) is a member of the Nevada State Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining Committee and executive director of the Nevada Preservation Foundation.