The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced it will spend $417 million from the sale public lands in Nevada on projects to improve recreation and conservation efforts across the state and on the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.
“Since 1998, public land sales in the Las Vegas Valley have funded projects that benefit communities and improve the overall quality of life for residents and visitors,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the DOI's March 16 news release.
Revenue for the funding was created through the sale of public lands under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA). The act allows the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to use funds generated from the sale of public lands in designated areas in the Las Vegas Valley to support conservation projects across Nevada, the news release states.
Projects that will receive funding include multi-species habitat conservation; capital improvements; hazardous fuels reduction; wildfire prevention; conservation; and the Eastern Nevada Landscape Restoration Project, among others, the Decision Memorandum from the DOI Secretary records. The release notes that funding also will be earmarked for a reserve account; in all totaling $417,143,766.
Carson City, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Lincoln County, White Pine County, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Projects will be split between cooperative and non-cooperative efforts and any funds not used will be sent back to the SNPLMA for future projects, according to the memorandum.
"Today’s investment continues that effort by supporting jobs and local economies, improving recreation opportunities in rural and low-income communities, and advancing Biden-Harris administration’s America the Beautiful initiative’s goal to conserve at least 30 percent each of our lands and waters by the year 2030," Haaland said in the new release.
