Nevada can benefit from military lands bills, Amodei says

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., told lawmakers this week the 116th Congress is a huge opportunity for Nevada because of lands bills filed by the U.S. military.

“It’s a unique opportunity for Nevada,” he told a joint session of the Nevada Senate and Assembly.

He said the Navy is asking for the largest lands bill in the history of the state to expand the Fallon Naval Air Station and the Air Force is asking nearly as much to expand Nellis Air Force Base.

He said he fully intends to add amendments to those bills that will include not only rural land transfers but a lands bill for Clark County as well. He said he intends to tell advocates for both those military land withdrawals, “I expect you not to object to the amendment.”

“Almost half the counties in Nevada are working on lands bills right now,” he said. “This is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often and I say you ought to seize it.”

Amodei said with 85 percent of Nevada under federal control, what happens in those areas impacts everything from transportation to recreation to economic development.

He said he looks forward to working with Gov. Steve Sisolak on what would be best for Nevada and to begin drafting amendments. He said he looks forward to a bipartisan effort since no Nevada lands bill in history passed as a partisan issue: “they’re bipartisan or they don’t pass.”