Sponsor
Catherine Marie Cortez Masto
Senator · D-NV
Senator · D-NV
Official title: Provide for conservation and economic development in the State of Nevada, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 12, 2025 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress March 12, 2025
The bill trades expanded local and tribal control, extensive land conservations and recreation/infrastructure opportunities against risks of reduced federal protections, potential habitat loss in certain areas, shifted costs and liabilities to local governments, and constrained water and economic uses for some communities.
Residents, recreationists, and nearby communities gain permanent wilderness protections for ~1.5 million acres, preserving landscapes, watersheds, and long-term recreation opportunities.
Moapa Band and Las Vegas Paiute Tribe receive substantial land-into-trust transfers (roughly 45,146 acres total) and a required passthrough of ROW payments, expanding tribal governance, revenue, and self-determination while prohibiting class II/III gaming on those lands.
Residents and wildlife benefit from creation of Special Management Areas (about 358,954 acres) and other land withdrawals that provide conservation mitigation and help protect habitat linked to the county's MSHCP.
Rural communities, wildlife, and visitors face increased risk of habitat loss and reduced federal protection because the bill changes NCA boundaries, revokes parts of an ACEC, and allows up to 25,000 acres to be nominated for disposal or other nonconservation uses.
Wildlife and conservation advocates may see weakened species protections because the bill expressly authorizes certain local governments to be incidental-take permit holders, which can make authorizing take easier in practice.
Taxpayers and the federal estate stand to lose value and future revenue when federal parcels are conveyed 'without consideration' or rents are forgone for ROWs and pipeline rights, reducing federal holdings and potential receipts.
Based on analysis of 16 sections of legislative text.
Transfers thousands of acres into tribal trust, expands/updates Red Rock NCA, adds wilderness units, conveys parcels to Nevada cities, and creates four BLM OHV areas with required management plans.
Transfers tens of thousands of acres of federal land in Clark County, Nevada into trust for two Paiute tribes, updates boundaries and definitions for the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, adds multiple new wilderness designations, authorizes specific public-land conveyances to Nevada cities and county, and establishes four BLM off‑highway vehicle recreation areas with required management plans. It also amends multiple prior Nevada public‑lands laws to enable targeted land nominations, disposals, and uses while preserving existing rights and imposing conditions such as limits on gaming and reserved utility corridors.