Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** BLM will thoughtfully use some Nevada public land for affordable housing
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Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Suburban sprawl near Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by John Krzesinski, Flickr. ([link removed])
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that it is moving ahead with a plan to sell 20 acres of Nevada public lands ([link removed]) near the city of Las Vegas to the Clark County Department of Social Services for affordable housing.
The proposal is the first under an agreement ([link removed]) between the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Interior departments that allows for the targeted sale of federal parcels to create affordable housing. The 20 acres in Nevada would be sold for a below-market value of $100 per acre ([link removed]) , as provided by the HUD agreement and the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act ([link removed]) of 1998. The development planned under BLM's announcement ([link removed]) would require 80 percent of the units be sold to first-time homebuyers with household incomes
at or below 80 percent of the median income for the Las Vegas area, with the other 20 percent going to first-time buyers at or below 100 percent of the area’s median income.
The Biden administration’s action stands in stark contrast to proposals from some elected officials who have called for the wholesale transfer of public lands without safeguards to ensure a giveaway leads to affordable housing. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo sent a letter to President Joe Biden this year demanding the transfer of 50,000 acres of public land ([link removed]) around Las Vegas with seemingly no restrictions—a recipe for more sprawl ([link removed]) and a gift to subdivision developers. Utah Senator Mike Lee’s HOUSES Act contains a similar prescription ([link removed]) , allowing local governments to nominate unlimited acres for transfer to developers along with a
meaningless density requirement and no measures to ensure housing affordability.
Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss said in a statement ([link removed]) , “The Interior department is showing how public lands that are already well-suited to development can be part of the housing solution, with appropriate safeguards to make sure the housing is affordable and doesn’t end up as trophy homes for billionaires.”
Project 2025 would devastate America's public lands
Project 2025 was launched by the Koch-funded think tank ([link removed]) Heritage Foundation in 2022, and is an extreme political agenda that seeks tohand public lands over to corporations, end vital land protections, and harm wildlife ([link removed]) . The chapter on the Interior department was written by former acting BLM head William Perry Pendley, and it lays out a plan to gut the Interior department and remove environmental safeguards that ensure the health of our public lands. Pendley freely admits that the energy section was written “in its entirety” by oil industry leaders ([link removed]) .
The recommendations in Project 2025 stand in stark contrast to the wishes of Western voters, who, year after year, affirm their love of public lands and wildlife in polling conducted by Colorado College ([link removed]) in the annual Conservation in the West poll. The majority of Western voters across the political spectrum say they want elected officials to preserve nature and protect wildlife, not sell off public lands to the oil, gas and mining industries, as Project 2025 recommends.
Read the new blog post ([link removed]) from Center for Western Priorities Communications Manager Kate Groetzinger for an overview of the most egregious aspects in Project 2025 that pertain to public lands.
** Quick hits
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Interior nominates American Civil Rights sites for World Heritage list
E&E News ([link removed]) | WJTV ([link removed])
BLM will thoughtfully use some Nevada public land for affordable housing
E&E News ([link removed]) | BLM press release ([link removed])
Navajo uranium miners demand justice after Congress lets aid program expire
Cronkite News ([link removed])
Study: Drilling in Permian Basin driving ozone pollution at New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns
The Hill ([link removed])
Canadian coal mining company charged with illegal dumping in Montana watershed
Flathead Beacon ([link removed])
Scientists argue over monarch butterfly's endangered species eligibility
E&E News ([link removed])
Award winning "Sugarcane" documentary looks at heartbreaking legacy of Indigenous boarding schools
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Five people saved after their SUV plunged into a Yellowstone geyser
Outside ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” It is unacceptable that extremists in Congress have let the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expire and left hundreds of radiation-exposed Arizonans without the care and compensation they deserve.”
—Arizona Representative Ruben Gallego, Cronkite News ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@mypubliclands ([link removed])
Happy birthday to us!
We don't need fireworks to celebrate when we have night skies that look like this. 🌌🎆 But we will celebrate with a fee-free day! Plan your adventure at the link in our bio.
On July 16, 1946, the Bureau of Land Management was established by merging the Grazing Service and the General Land Office. Since then, the we have evolved and adapted to the nation's changing needs. Today, we manage 245 million acres of public landscapes for all Americans
📷 A person stands on top of a rock formation looking toward a star-filled sky; Alabama Hills, BLM California. Marcin Zajac/ Share the Experience.
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