Thursday, August 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
BLM grants land access to Nellis
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Nellis Air Force Base on Wednesday was assured some open land for the next two decades to accommodate military jets loaded with munitions.
In a public order published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Land Management granted Nellis continued access to 40 acres of land described as a "clear zone" north of the installation.
The BLM parcel is part of a base strategy to hold on to sought-after public land around Nellis, which lies just eight miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Military officials especially want to keep the northern border free from development after having to curb missions to the south, where homes have approached since the 1980s.
Pilots carrying live ordinance are only permitted to take off from the north runway, a self-imposed safety restriction.
"This land is in the live ordinance departure area," Nellis spokesman Mike Estrada said of the BLM parcel.
The 40-acre plot sits just beyond the northern runways, the second-most accident prone area after the runways, Estrada said.
The Air Force has controlled the buffer zone since 1955, when the BLM first set aside the land for military use. The land is paved and lined with runway lights, said Dennis Samuelson, a BLM realty specialist.
Nellis will have access to the land for 20 years, the maximum time allowed by federal law, before it is reviewed by federal land managers again.
In recent years, Nevada's federal lawmakers have earmarked $30 million to buy buffer land around the 14,000-acre base. Last year, Nellis used the money to buy 400 acres of land from about two dozen private owners to the north of the base, Estrada said.
