Babbitt begins purchase of important parcels

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, flanked by two senators, a handful of county commissioners and a dozen local officials, had just announced a plan to spend $33.5 million on environmentally sensitive land in Nevada.

On a bare patch of dirt where a nature center will be built for the future Desert Wetlands Park, Babbitt turned from his lectern to talk to the dignitaries.

Instead 86-year-old Nicholas Hughes caught his attention with an offer the secretary couldn't refuse: 40 acres of desert and wetlands along the Virgin River, a habitat for the endangered Southwest willow flycatcher bird.

Babbitt immediately accepted, and no sooner had the purchases planned for Phase I of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act been announced on Wednesday, he welcomed the first acquisition of a future Phase II.

More than 1,100 acres could be bought with $28 million of federal money from the sale of Bureau of Land Management parcels in the Las Vegas Valley. They would be the first purchases under the 1998 act, which is being studied as a model for other states. Another $5.5 million will be used to pay for improvements at various recreation areas and wildlife refuges.

"This is the first harvest for the fruits of our labor," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said. Up to 7,800 acres statewide may be purchased under the act.

The act changed the way public land is handled in the state. Until 1998 Bureau of Land Management property was traded for environmentally sensitive land, but audits found that the federal government usually got the short end of the stick.

While most of the sensitive lands in the current system will be purchased outright, at least one parcel is part of an ongoing land exchange already under review, BLM spokesman Phil Guerrero said.

The 270-acre Tres Piedras parcel in the Spring Mountains, worth $6 million, is part of an ongoing land exchange between the BLM, Lake Las Vegas and owner Rhodes Design and Development Corp., Guerrero said. The parcel is valuable for future recreation and for protecting endemic species in the Spring Mountains.

Other sensitive parcels on the list to acquire include:

The BLM is requesting nominations of other environmentally sensitive land for Phase II, agency spokesman Bob Stewart said. Any individual, group or government agency may nominate environmentally sensitive parcels, he said.

Two more public land sales will be scheduled before the next batch of sensitive parcels is announced for purchase in the spring of 2001. The Hughes property along the Virgin River will be at the top of the list.

"Whatever the price, I'll use the proceeds to take care of my wife," Hughes said.

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