Federal land bill hems in Moapa Valley community

This map shows the changes proposed by the new Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act which was submitted to Congress last week. For a detailed map showing changes to all of Clark County see the link below.

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

A mammoth public lands bill for Clark County was filed in Congress on Wednesday, March 3 and is being touted as the largest conservation bill in Nevada history.

The Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act would set aside 2 million acres of newly-designated conservation land throughout Clark County in order to make available 30,000 acres of new disposal land for development in and around the Las Vegas valley.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., submitted the bill on the Senate side and will lead it through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee where she is chairwoman.

The House version of the bill was filed by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

Moapa Valley hemmed in
A portion of the new conservation land set aside in the bill surrounds the Moapa Valley communities.

To the southwest of Moapa Valley, the Muddy Mountains Wilderness area is proposed to be expanded significantly. In addition, a large swath of public land to the east of Interstate 15 and the Moapa River Indian Reservation would be designated as a new Muddy Mountains Special Management Area (SMA) which is considered an equivalent designation to an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).

A new Overton Wilderness area would be carved out along the east bank of Lake Mead, directly across the lake from the old Overton Beach and Echo Bay. This designation would extend eastward as far as the boundary to Gold Butte National Recreation Area.

Nearest to the Moapa Valley would be another new SMA designation called the Mesa Milkvetch SMA. This would comprise nearly 10,000 acres on the east bench of the lower Moapa Valley directly adjacent to Logandale and Overton. This area had previously been designated as BLM disposal land.

As word of the proposed legislation spread last week, Moapa Valley residents were frustrated at the new designations which they felt would bring restrictions right to the doorstep of the communities. The Mesa Milkvetch SMA component was a particular irritant.

Logandale resident Lindsey Dalley, who serves as Chairman for Partners in Conservation, said that the Mesa Milkvetch SMA is regularly used by the community in various ways. Being very near the Moapa Valley High School, that area has been used for decades for conditioning practice in school sports. It is also used by many community members and groups for OHV events, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking and more, Dalley said.

“It is just another example of the bad policy that comes when people in far-off places point at a map and make a decision,” Dalley said. “They are looking at these public lands like they do in Las Vegas where you have to drive 30-60 miles just to get to the border of any public lands. That experience is just not equivalent to this situation. In this case, we just step out of our homes and we are there. We use it every day. So it is like the federal government suddenly annexing land right in the middle of our community!”

Dalley said that this portion of the bill was the kind of flawed policy that hems in rural communities, affects their ability to grow, damages their economy and sets them up to fail.
“What’s more, it is liable to make criminals out of otherwise upstanding citizens who are accustomed to walking out their doors and enjoying that land,” he said.

Impact on OHV community
Logandale resident Blake Monk, who leads the local Dark Side offroad racing club of the Motorcycle Racing Association of Nevada (MRAN), said that the new designations would shut racing events down in the community and throughout Clark County.

MRAN regularly holds regional racing events on the east bench of Moapa Valley and on the Mormon Mesa. They also plan racing events in the lands just east of the Ute exit of I-15. Both of these areas have been designated as new SMAs in the proposed bill.

“We bring about a thousand people to the community spending tens of thousands of dollars in local businesses with these events,” Monk said. “This would shut that all down and hurt the communities.”

Monk said that the bill would affect events like this, not just for the areas around Moapa Valley, but throughout Clark County. In addition to MRAN, it would affect larger racing organizations like the Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) and mega-events like the Mint 400.

“With what this bill does, there is really no place left for us to go,” Monk said. “We will have to take our events, and all of the revenues they produce, to other counties or to surrounding states. It is really a shame!”

The bill does establish four different especially-designated OHV recreation areas in the county. One of those is the Logandale Trails area just west of Moapa Valley. Others include Nelson Hills, Sandy Valley and Laughlin OHV areas. But with all that is being restricted in the bill, those few spots will quickly become completely overrun, Monk said.

“You think it’s bad at Logandale Trails now, this will create a complete disaster out there,” Monk said. “You can easily expect at least five times the numbers that are coming out there now if this passes.”

Benefits to M.V.
The bill does bring some important gains to the Moapa Valley communities, however.
For one, it would set aside another 41,000 acres of land to be held in trust for the Moapa Band of Paiutes.

In addition, the bill would provide important rights of way to the Moapa Valley Water District for needed infrastructure to the community.

MVWD General Manager Joe Davis said that the district has worked with Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick to help make sure that some critical items for the district were included in the bill.

“She worked tirelessly with the delegation and she held steadfast for what we needed,” Davis said of Kirkpatrick. “I really can’t give her enough credit.”

The district gained an easement for a future pipeline extending all the way down the Meadow Valley Wash from the Lincoln County line to Moapa. This would allow MVWD to access water rights at Rox at some point in the future.

In addition, the bill includes a swath of land near the district’s Arrow Canyon well site for a proposed new well to be drilled in that location.

Other BLM land secured for water district use includes a parcel near Bowman Reservoir, and another parcel at the mouth of the narrows near Wells Siding north of Logandale. Both of these have been identified as spots for surface water treatment facilities in the future.

In addition sites for several new water storage tanks have also been included in the bill.

“Some of these things are applications that we made with BLM a long time ago,” Davis said. “We worked through the process with BLM for more than a decade and just couldn’t ever get them approved. This bill opens those things up and gives us some options for the future of supplying water to the community.”

Full delegation support
All of the Nevada Congressional delegation expressed support for the bill last week.

Congressman Steven Horsford, whose District #4 includes northeastern Clark County, said that the bill struck a “proper balance” between growth and conservation.

“I’m proud to support this legislation that provides sustainable growth in Clark County and maintains safeguards for effective land management and conservation areas for all Nevadans to enjoy,” he said.

“It is vital that we preserve the incredible outdoor spaces, while also allowing Las Vegas and its surrounding communities to diversify their economies and provide additional affordable housing to Nevada families,” said Cortez-Masto.

“I commend Sen. Cortez Masto for incorporating a balanced approach, allowing for the preservation of our critical natural resources as well as understanding the need for orderly growth,” said Commissioner Kirkpatrick.

To view a detailed map including changes proposed for all of Clark County, click here.