Sponsors
The bill trades permanent protection for a sizable set of public lands and new local revenue streams against reductions in overall public land holdings, limits on development and resource use, and localized fiscal and administrative impacts.
Rural communities and the public gain permanent federal protection for about 135,000 acres, preserving landscapes, recreation opportunities, and wildlife habitat.
Local county governments receive 10% of land sale proceeds (and state education programs receive 5%), providing a direct new revenue stream for county budgets and schools.
Clear legal definitions, mapping, and required boundary descriptions reduce ambiguity about which lands are eligible for disposal or wilderness designation, improving transparency for governments, land users, and residents.
Large-scale sale or transfer of BLM lands reduces public land holdings available for recreation, conservation, and ecosystem services, affecting broad public uses.
Designating wilderness and withdrawing lands from development removes mining and commercial development rights on those acres, limiting local economic and resource extraction opportunities.
Federal land withdrawals during the selection/sale period can restrict mining and leasing activity for up to two years, creating near-term uncertainty and revenue loss for local resource businesses.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Allows sale/exchange of mapped BLM checkerboard lands in Pershing County, designates seven wilderness additions, and places a ~10-acre parcel into trust for the Lovelock Paiute Tribe (no class II/III gaming).
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress March 27, 2025
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to sell or exchange specific Bureau of Land Management (BLM) “checkerboard” parcels in Pershing County, Nevada under defined appraisal, bidding, and selection procedures, and to prioritize exchanges that consolidate adjacent private and federal ownership. Adds seven specified BLM parcels to the National Wilderness Preservation System, establishes boundaries and withdrawals for those areas, and places an approximately 10-acre BLM parcel into trust for the Lovelock Paiute Tribe while prohibiting class II/III gaming on that parcel. The Act preserves valid existing rights (including mining claims), requires public notice and joint selection with the county for disposals and exchanges, sets appraisal and fair-market-value rules, requires certain exchange offers within one year, and directs mapping, surveys, and public availability of legal descriptions for new wilderness and trust lands.