BLM renews concerns over land transfer for cancer campus

WASHINGTON -- The Bureau of Land Management renewed concerns Tuesday with a bill that conveys 80 acres of federal land in Summerlin to develop a Nevada Cancer Institute satellite campus and associated projects.

A BLM official said during a Senate subcommittee hearing that a provision granting 24 acres to the cancer institute for free is not consistent with land-transfer policies.

The institute should pay half of fair market value for the land at Alta Drive and Hualapai Way, said Elena Daly, director of the National Landscape Conservation System for the BLM.

The BLM also wants to auction or have a competitive sale for an adjoining 16.1 acres to be developed for commercial projects. The bill would give the land to the city of Las Vegas to sell at fair market value.

The bill passed the House on March 4 after it was amended to address some of the BLM's concerns. It now is being considered by the Senate.

"While some of our concerns were addressed .... we urge the committee to make the additional modifications," Daly said in a prepared statement offered at the hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., the bill sponsor, said the House changes should be sufficient, according to spokesman David Cherry.

"The congresswoman felt that we should be allowed to pass this land along at no cost to the cancer institute, and that the city is going to develop the site in a way that is most compatible with the neighborhood and the goals of the cancer institute," Cherry said.

The Senate bill would convey a total of 80 acres of land to the city of Las Vegas.

In addition to the cancer institute and medical offices, 19 acres would be devoted to a "cancer survivors" park, 12.9 acres to a water-pumping station and 7.8 acres to a flood control area.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Sara Spivey at sspivey@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.