Southern Nevada lands projects advance in Senate vote

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a giant federal lands bill today that advances a handful of Nevada projects that were stalled in Congress last year.

The bill was hailed by sponsors as the most sweeping conservation measure the Senate has undertaken in years, combining more than 160 individual bills that had been left over from its previous session.

It passed 73-21, and was sent to the House for further action.

Among Nevada elements, it contains:

—A flood control bill that would release 65 acres along the foothills of Sunrise Mountain to be incorporated into the Orchard Detention Basin Project, a storm water basin being engineered by Clark County.

—An 80-acre land transfer in Summerlin, of which 24.4 acres would be granted by the Bureau of Land Management to the Nevada Cancer Institute for a campus and treatment center.

The remainder of the property at Alta Drive and Hualapai Way would be sold to the city of Las Vegas, which plans to have 16 acres developed for medical offices. The city also envisions a park and water pumping station at the site.

—A bill to study sites that played a role in the Cold War for possible inclusion in the government's inventory of historically significant landmarks.

The bill was inspired in part by efforts of Southern Nevadan Steve Ririe, who has researched and documented the site atop Mount Charleston where a C-54 transport plane on a secret flight to the Nevada Test Site crashed in 1955.

—A transfer of 502 acres from the BLM to Henderson for development around the Henderson Executive Airport.

Testifying before the House last year, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said the proposed acquisition was an important part of the city's long-term economic plan.

The umbrella bills would set aside 2 million acres of protected wilderness in nine states, and add more than 1,000 miles to the system of wild and scenic rivers.

The overall package became noteworthy both for its size and because it sparked a protest by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who had blocked a number of the bills last year.

Contact Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.