Some movement on the Douglas County lands bill that has been milling about the halls of Congress for the last 11 years popped on Wednesday.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, said the bill, which has been incorporated into the Northern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, was marked up and reported favorably in the House Committee on Natural Resources.
“It’s no secret Nevada has a long history of advocating for local control over public lands in the face of federal oversight,” said Rep. Mark Amodei. “This commonsense legislation gives Nevada’s leaders and organizations a front seat at the table to determine what is best for their communities.”
Douglas, Washoe, Pershing, Elko, Lyon and Clark counties and Carson City all have something in the act.
The Douglas portion includes 7,777 acres to be transferred to the county from the BLM for flood management and other public purposes, no more than 10,000 acres in the BLM’s Carson City Resource Management Plan to be sold.
The Act includes 1,084 acres to be transferred to Douglas County for open space, 2,669 acres to be transferred to the Washoe Tribe and 67 acres to the state for parks.
“While there remain additional resource priorities needed, I will continue fighting to secure a complete legislative victory — one that spurs a new era of economic growth and resilience in Nevada, all while balancing our responsibility to preserve and protect our unique landscapes,” Amodei said.
The effort was first pitched in 2009 by Jacques and Dominique Etchegoyhen’s Terra Firma.
The proposal underwent several changes over a series of workshops held in 2011 and was first introduced in Congress in 2013.
Around 64 percent of Douglas County is federal land.
