Land swap

Clark County has a common-sense plan to spare Lee Canyon campers from outrageous fees while getting rid of county land that’s difficult to manage.

Too bad it requires an act of Congress.

The county wants to trade its 4.12-acre island at Lee Meadows, where dangerous sledding is popular, to the U.S. Forest Service for the title to Camp Lee Canyon. Lee Meadows is completely surrounded by Forest Service land. And the county already helps the Forest Service operate Camp Lee Canyon, paying for kitchen remodeling, providing maintenance staff and running its water system.

Federal fees for organizational camps that operate on forest system land have increased from $300 to more than $5,000. If the swap went through, the county would be free from liability at Lee Meadows, where an 11-year-old girl died in January, and the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and faith-based groups wouldn’t be crushed by the higher camping fees. Commissioner Larry Brown notes the county’s land on Mount Charleston already is part of the Forest Service’s master plan.

It’s up to Nevada’s congressional delegation to make it happen. They’ll have to get hundreds of votes from lawmakers of other states to settle a local land-use decision. We’d rather see federal agencies sell vast swaths of land across the state — Washington controls 86 percent of Nevada — not take on new property to release land elsewhere. As a step toward that goal, we’d be happy to see agencies given authority to handle small land swaps and sales, in the interest of efficiency.

But until that day comes, every land transfer goes into the Capitol sausage grinder. Nevada’s congressional delegation should push this plan through.