Thursday, August 04, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

$9.3 MILLION REQUEST: Lake Mead projects off budget

Federal lawmakers say state should use BLM land sales money

WASHINGTON -- When lawmakers set spending for the Interior Department in legislation that passed last week, they allocated $301 million for national park construction in Minnesota, California, West Virginia, Hawaii and more than 20 other states and the District of Columbia.

But when it came to water and sewer line repairs at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, they took a different approach.

Rather than allocate $9.3 million the National Park Service requested for Lake Mead, Congress recommended the agency take the money out of profits from federal land sales in Clark County.

"Projects such as these should be funded from this source and not requested in the budget," stated a report signed by House and Senate negotiators on the final legislation.

Nevada lawmakers have jealously guarded how money is spent from the $2.1 billion fund that contains a windfall from federal land auctions in Southern Nevada, one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.

The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act sets controls on how the funds in the state can be spent.

The state's congressional delegation successfully fought against bids by the Bush administration and members of the House Appropriations Committee this year to redirect $700 million or more from the land act to other uses.

But the short paragraph in the Interior spending bill that came to light this week is being seen as a more subtle way for Congress to assert more control over the money.

"It's a backhanded way of getting money" from the Clark County land fund, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said. "If no other state of the union has to dip into other funds for water projects, the state of Nevada shouldn't have to."

The provision "is a strong suggestion the (Interior) department fund projects with the ample funds available through land sales," said John Scofield, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee.

Nevada senators viewed the matter as a clear attempt to "meddle," aides said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was aware of the provision but did not consider it threatening and did not have time to stop it before passage, spokesman Tessa Hafen said.

Nonetheless, "He doesn't like the interference of the committee telling how the money should be spent," Hafen said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., plans to speak with Interior Secretary Gale Norton about it.

"We'll make sure it doesn't become a precedent," an Ensign aide said. "This is the appropriators talking. They don't want to pay for anything out of their own pocket when there's another source."

The 1998 law allows land profits to be spent at Lake Mead, but an Interior Department official said it was unclear whether capital infrastructure expenses would qualify.

"We're looking at the language to see whether we can fund these this way," said David Barna, a National Park Service spokesman.

Nevada's senators believe the spending would be allowed, aides said.

In the past, the Southern Nevada land fund has paid for 56 projects at Lake Mead, ranging from picnic tables to interpretive panels, according to park service budget documents.

No funds have gone toward infrastructure like water and sewer lines, Lake Mead spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said.

"You can make the argument that it affects visitors, but not in an obvious way as putting in a boat ramp or trails," Dey said. "For us, it changes the priority" of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act funds.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has repeatedly warned that government officials will continue trying to raid the fund unless Nevada strikes a deal to ensure larger sums are directed to education and public land management.

But Gibbons said Lake Mead is entitled to funding under the park service's annual budget, Chief of Staff Amy Maier said.

"That's where first and foremost the funding should come from," Maier said. "The SNPLMA funding should stay in Nevada, but not at the expense of funds that Nevada is owed from federal agencies that control lands in the state."