Sponsor
Catherine Marie Cortez Masto
Senator · D-NV
Senator · D-NV
Official title: Promote conservation, improve public land, and provide for sensible development in Douglas County, Nevada, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress March 25, 2026
The bill secures substantial conservation and tribal land gains and provides local parcels and management authorities for wildfire mitigation and recreation, but shifts costs and liabilities to local governments and recipients, limits future development and flexibility, and raises risks of administrative strain and legal disputes.
Residents and visitors gain permanent protection for roughly 12,392 acres (including the Burbank Canyons additions), preserving recreation, scenic landscapes, and long‑term habitat protection.
Washoe Tribe receives ~2,669 acres placed into trust and clearer statutory recognition of tribal lands and trust processes, expanding tribal jurisdiction and land base.
Local governments (Douglas County and other units) gain parcels (about 7,777 acres plus additional smaller transfers) for flood control, recreation, open space, and local projects, increasing local capacity for infrastructure and hazard mitigation.
Local governments, States, and taxpayers face new and sometimes substantial fiscal burdens: counties and the State must pay all conveyance costs (surveys, appraisals, closing fees, and potential environmental response), some transfers reduce the taxable land base (lowering property tax revenue), and some disposals occur below fair market value (reducing federal receipts).
Recipients of conveyed lands may inherit environmental liabilities because the Secretary is not required to remediate contamination or remove improvements before conveyance, shifting cleanup responsibility and potential costs to local governments or other recipients.
The bill locks in narrow geographic definitions, reversionary clauses, and removes some parcels from FLPMA §603(c) review, which together constrain future land‑use flexibility, limit planning options, and reduce avenues for future designation or local input.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Conveys specified federal lands to Nevada, Douglas County, and the Washoe Tribe; designates Burbank Canyons Wilderness; and directs related surveys, trust taking, and special-use permitting.
Conveys and reclassifies federal lands in Douglas County, Nevada to support conservation, recreation, flood control, and tribal trust purposes. It transfers specified Forest Service and BLM parcels to the State, County, and the Washoe Tribe, designates a new Burbank Canyons Wilderness, and directs timely administrative action on certain Forest Service conveyances and special-use authorizations. The law limits permitted uses for conveyed parcels (public parks, wildlife conservation, flood control, recreation, and other public purposes), preserves existing water and other valid rights, prohibits certain gaming on trust lands, and requires recipients to pay standard conveyance costs; it also establishes mapping, survey, and legal-description requirements and allows limited boundary corrections and easements to facilitate access and administration.