Sponsors (2)
The bill gives La Paz County local control of ~3,400 acres—enabling local planning, economic opportunity, and explicit tribal-protection obligations—while shifting costs to the county, reducing federal oversight and potential resource uses, and creating trade-offs between local flexibility and long-term conservation and access protections.
La Paz County (local governments and nearby communities) gains control of ~3,400 acres, allowing local planning that can enable economic development or targeted conservation.
Tribal cultural resources on the parcel receive explicit protections: the county must avoid disturbance, minimize impacts, coordinate with the Colorado River Indian Tribes THPO, and allow reburial of artifacts.
The legislation specifies the exact map, the Bureau of Land Management as the agency, and the Secretary of the Interior as the decisionmaker, reducing legal ambiguity around the conveyance process and easing local and state planning.
La Paz County and its local taxpayers must pay fair-market value plus appraisal, survey, and administrative costs, creating a significant immediate fiscal burden on the county.
Transferring federal land to county control reduces federal oversight and could weaken long-term conservation protections or public access if local priorities change.
The withdrawal of the land from mining/mineral leasing removes potential mineral development opportunities and associated jobs or revenues under federal programs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Transfers ~3,400 acres of BLM land to La Paz County at fair market value, with cultural protections, county-paid conveyance costs, and withdrawal from mining laws.
Conveys about 3,400 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in La Paz County, Arizona to La Paz County for sale at fair market value, subject to appraisals and customary terms. The county must pay the appraised value and all conveyance-related costs, protect Tribal cultural artifacts (including coordination with the Colorado River Indian Tribes’ Tribal Historic Preservation Office), and accept exclusions for any parcels with significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources. The law withdraws the conveyed land from U.S. mining and mineral leasing laws, directs sale proceeds into the Federal Land Disposal Account for use under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, and allows minor map or boundary corrections after conveyance. Conveyance occurs promptly after La Paz County requests it and remains subject to valid existing rights and required terms and conditions.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress March 10, 2025