Pershing County Development and Conservation Act

Summary#

This Act would change how certain federal public lands in Pershing County are managed and used. It has three main parts. Title I lets the Interior Department sell or trade specified Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels shown on a map dated July 8, 2024. The county and the Secretary must jointly pick parcels to offer. Sales must be by competitive bidding (with adjoining owners offered first when possible) and at least fair market value. The Act also allows exchanges of eligible BLM land for private land of equal value, with cash or land added to equalize values. The bill requires mass appraisals within 1 year and every 5 years, sets short deadlines for offering selected parcels (90 days), and withdraws selected parcels from certain mining and leasing laws while they are being processed. It also requires the Secretary to offer encumbered lands (lands with existing mining claims, millsites, or tunnel sites) to the claim holders or their successors for fair market value, with the buyers paying conveyance costs and the prior mining interests merging into fee title on conveyance.

Title II designates several BLM lands in the State as new wilderness areas and adds them to the National Wilderness Preservation System. The bill names seven wilderness additions and lists approximate acreages for each. It describes management rules: the areas will be managed under the Wilderness Act; existing grazing may continue if it existed before enactment; wildfire and insect control is allowed; state fish and wildlife authority is preserved; water rights are not expressly reserved by the United States and the Secretary must follow State law for any water rights obtained after enactment; and the bill generally restricts new water resource facilities in the wilderness areas. The bill also releases about 48,600 acres of other public land in certain wilderness study areas from further wilderness study and directs those lands to be managed under existing land use plans.

Title III places about 10 acres of BLM land into trust for the Lovelock Paiute Tribe and makes that land part of the Tribe's reservation. The Secretary must complete a survey within 180 days and prepare a map. The trust land is not eligible for class II or class III gaming.

What it means for you#

• County residents: The county may gain funds from land sales and may help select which parcels are sold or exchanged. Some public lands could change to private ownership if sold or exchanged. New wilderness areas would protect certain places from development and new large water projects.
• Adjoining landowners and miners: Adjoining landowners may get the first chance to buy parcels offered for sale. Owners of mining claims, millsites, or tunnel sites on encumbered parcels may be offered to buy the land they occupy.
• Recreational users and wildlife interests: Several new wilderness areas would restrict certain types of development and help preserve habitat, while state wildlife agencies retain authority to manage fish and wildlife.
• Lovelock Paiute Tribe: About 10 acres would be taken into trust for the Tribe and become part of the reservation, subject to a survey and map, and gaming on that land would be prohibited.

Expenses#

• Sale proceeds distribution: From land sale proceeds, 5% must go to the State for general education, 10% to the County per normal budgeting, and the remainder must go into a "Pershing County Special Account" in the U.S. Treasury. That special account may be used by the Secretary, with County consultation, to buy land from willing sellers in certain categories and to reimburse costs the Secretary incurred preparing sales or exchanges. The account earns interest as determined by the Treasury. The Secretary must report on deposits and expenditures every 5 fiscal years.
• Buyer payments and costs: Qualified entities who buy encumbered land must pay fair market value and all conveyance-related costs, including surveys and administrative costs.
• Appraisals and administrative work: The bill requires mass appraisals, evaluation analyses, surveys, maps, and other administrative actions. Specific dollar amounts for these actions or net fiscal effects on the federal budget are not provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill text states findings that clearing up the checkerboard pattern of alternating federal and private land would simplify federal land management, reduce management costs, and could help improve the County tax base. It also frames wilderness additions as protecting lands and wildlife and places for public recreation, while preserving state wildlife management authority and some existing uses like grazing.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.