Plans for cargo airport advance

WASHINGTON -- If Clark County builds a cargo airport 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, the new facility might open the doors for Nevada to enter the global marketplace, U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Thursday.

The proposed airport would be built on a dry lake bed in the Ivanpah Valley on 6,650 acres currently owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

Despite the BLM's opposition of transferring the land to Clark County, a House subcommittee agreed Thursday to release a bill to the House Resources Committee that would allow the county to pay fair market value for the land. The House bill was authored by Gibbons and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

A BLM official told the House subcommittee last month the airport would restrict the use of the public lands such as grazing cattle, major power transmission lines and would threaten Mojave Desert tortoise habitat and alter off-road vehicle routes. The official also said Clark County would not be paying what the land is really worth, because its price would be frozen from the outset of a 20 year purchase period.

Gibbons said he hopes the committee will expedite review of the legislation so the House will approve it before adjourning in September.

A similar bill currently sits in a subcommittee of the Senate and Natural Resources Committee. It was introduced by Sens. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Gibbons thinks the airport is an excellent opportunity to compliment the gaming industry as another source of income and employment for the Silver State. The Nevada Republican predicted construction for the airport could begin within the next 10 years, a conservative estimate, he said.

"Looking down the road (Nevada) can play a major role in the Pacific Rim countries ... as a cargo and transportation facility," Gibbons said. "This is an ideal opportunity to diversify our industrial base.

"We can be the transportation hub of the Pacific Rim with manufacturing companies adding to Nevada's economic standard."

The proposed airport has come under fire from some members of Congress including U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minn., who said the increased air flights over the area might be detrimental to the surrounding land protected by the federal government.

Vento was joined by Delegate Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, opposing the bill at Thursday's subcommittee hearing.

"This touches and affects some of the other interior lands set aside for conservation purposes," Vento said. "One of them being the Mojave National Preserve."

Ensign disputed Vento's claim about the negative environmental impact telling the Minnesota Democrat "he was familiar with the land.

"I think the chances of the (flights) having any type of impact would be very minimal," Ensign said.

Gibbons told Vento there are already 14 flight patterns that cross over Mojave and the Nevada Republican said they don't seem to negatively affect the preserve.

Gibbons' original bill was substituted Thursday by U.S. Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, chairman of the subcommittee, who offered a similar beefed-up measure. Hansen's substitute requires Clark County to conduct an impact study to make sure the Las Vegas Basin will not be affected and also makes the county maintain Jean Airport as a general aviation airport.

The substitute also allows the Secretary of the Interior to begin reclamation proceedings of the land if Clark County fails to show progress on building the airport 25 years from the time the legislation is enacted into law.

Gibbons said the Ivanpah Valley is one of the few remaining places near Las Vegas where the air space, topography and orientation are appropriate for a major airport.

"The site is far enough away from Las Vegas and McCarran International Airport and Nellis Air Force Base to be free of the air space capacity constraints that would face a new airport in the Las Vegas Valley," Gibbons said. "Yet (it) is close enough to serve as a secondary gateway to the metropolitan area."

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