LETTER: Bill in Congress would limit oil and gas leasing on Nevada public lands

As a lifelong angler and hunter, I believe that public lands are meant to be utilized for many different purposes — sporting, recreation and natural resource acquisition, among others. For far too long, leasing for oil and gas extraction has not been balanced with our public lands’ many other uses.

Fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation are more important now than ever for economic development, generating $5.5 billion in revenue according to the latest report from the Outdoor Industry Association. They are also where many turn to for mental and physical health, especially now. But with antiquated leasing laws that allow oil and gas leases to be sold for as little as $1.50 an acre, public land managers spend too much time dealing with frivolous speculative leases, diverting them from managing our public lands for other priorities. These low prices encourage speculation, leaving these lands tied up in the leasing system instead of being managed for fish and wildlife conservation.

Recently, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining heard Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 2021. This bill discourages speculative leasing in an effort to promote enhanced multiple-use management of our public lands. It also requires the Bureau of Land Management to update land development potential to inform more efficient and sound public land management, which will undoubtedly benefit all public land users and better protect fish and wildlife habitat.

I encourage any public land user to urge your congressional representative to pass this common-sense reform.