Fallon NAS expansion caught in dispute over federal land ownership

RENO, Nev. -- Ongoing friction over federal ownership of much of the West is surfacing again in a dispute over the expansion of the Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is among those opposing enlarging the base where Top Gun pilots train unless the government trades off some existing federal land or air space to the state.

The Navy says it doesn't have any excess land available to trade.

The Bureau of Land Management - another likely candidate for such a swap - says there's nothing in the works that would meet Reid's demands.

But aides to Reid say he's prepared to hold his ground. As Senate minority whip, he could throw a monkey-wrench in legislation Congress routinely approves each year renewing withdrawal of land from public use at military bases across the country.

The dispute stems from the age-old complaint that the federal government already owns too much of Nevada - 87 percent of its total 70.7 million acres, more than any other state in the nation.

"My position about additional land and air space withdrawals for military purposes is that for every new area requested, some land or airspace should be returned to the people of Nevada," Reid said during a congressional hearing this week.

His "no net-loss" policy presents a problem for Fallon NAS about 50 miles east of Reno, which for nearly 15 years has been pushing an expansion plan for training exercises and larger buffer areas around bombing ranges.

The Navy originally wanted to expand 189,000 acres but in recent years trimmed that back to 127,000 acres, or about 200 square miles.

About 87,000 acres, currently managed by the Interior Department's BLM, would be used for training missions but would remain accessible to the public.

The other 40,000 acres is around the fringes of four bombing ranges in west central Nevada where the Navy fears unexploded ordinance could exist.

Those 40,000 acres would be off limits to the public.

"In a state like Nevada, 40,000 acres isn't really that much," said Terri Knutson, an environmental planner for the BLM in Carson City.

"The people of Nevada I don't think would really be losing anything except for that stuff around the bombing ranges," she said.

Anne McMillin, Fallon NAS public affairs officer, said military training is prohibited on land managed by the BLM.

Under Navy ownership, she said, training could occur and public access could continue on the 87,000 acres of rugged high desert in the southern Dixie Valley, north of U.S. Highway 50 about 40 miles east of Fallon.

"You can still go out and hunt for rocks, you can still go out and camp, you can still go out and RV, you can still go out and chase rabbits," she said.

McMillin said the Navy flies over about 5 million acres of land in Nevada but currently owns only about 108,000 acres of that.

"Contrast that with say Nellis (Air Force Base near Las Vegas), which owns 3.2 million acres under which they fly," she said.

"We are asking for access to 127,000 additional acres so we can do our training. That is a drop in the bucket."

Jenny Backus, Reid's press secretary, said Reid's position shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

"We are very proud to have them as neighbors but we need to make sure there is a fair balance between the needs of Nevadans and the needs of the base," she said from Washington.

Even if the public continues to have access to the land, "things like sonic air booms" can detract from public enjoyment, Backus said.

"It doesn't have to be 127,000 acres for 127,000 acres," she said. "There are lots of way to do it. It could be some kind of combination of federal land or air space or water rights."

Backus declined to say if Reid would try to block the overall base withdrawal bill if no land exchange is agreed to.

"I think they know what our position is."

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