Nevada public lands likely a target again when Senate takes up Trump's ‘one big, beautiful bill'
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada's lone Republican in Congress failed in an effort to sell off public lands in the state, but a Utah senator might revive the tactic as President Trump's 'one big, beautiful bill' progresses this summer.
A late-night amendment by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) was heavily criticized by Nevada's Democratic representatives. It ended up dying, a casualty of political dealing after Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, the former Interior secretary during Trump's first term, threatened to vote no on the giant House funding bill. Zinke called out Amodei's amendment as the vote drew near, and Republicans weren't sure if they could pass the spending bill without him.
Now, Republican Sen. Mike Lee is working on selling public lands as the Senate prepares to take up the spending bill. While he hasn't said which states will be targeted, he has taken Montana off the list.
A Thursday report from The Hill indicated that Republicans could be in a similar position when the Senate vote arrives. Trump wants the Senate to pass the bill by July 4, but that's already looking unlikely.
The Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that spending bill passed by the House will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and some senators are saying they can't accept that.
Amodei's move to sell public lands was among the proposals to come up with money to pay for the renewal of tax cuts passed under Trump in 2017. Lee said his plan is expected to be released on Monday, according to a Bloomberg report.
With 63% of the state federally-owned, Utah is second only to Nevada.
More than 80% of Nevada is federally owned — nearly 57 million acres. Most of the land is under the control of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (63%, 47 million acres), followed by the U.S. Forest Service (5.7 million acres), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2.3 million acres), the National Park Service (797,000 acres) and the Department of Defense (60,000 acres), according to a 2020 report.
That report didn't account for the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site), which covers 880,000 acres in southeastern Nye County or the Tonopah Test Range, 370,000 acres farther north in Nye County.
Next is Idaho at 61.9%, Alaska at 60.9% and Oregon at 52.3%. Western states dominate the list.
Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox has challenged federal decisions about land in the state, objecting to expansions of national monuments. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante expansions were disputed in years past. Now, the Trump administration is opening up more federal land to oil and gas exploration, fast-tracking geothermal projects and looking at mineral deposits on national park land.
Gov. Joe Lombardo cited the Biden Administration's move creating the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument south of Las Vegas. He said it would prevent development at a time when Nevada needs federal land to address a housing crisis.
Housing has been at the center of the public land debate recently in the Las Vegas valley. An agreement with the BLM under Biden provided opportunities to buy federal land within the valley for $100 an acre, an incentive to get builders to deliver affordable housing.
Nevada Gov. Lombardo unveils $1 billion affordable housing plan: 'We have to expand'?
Rural Nevadans have had a sometimes-strained relationship with federal landowners.
It's only been 11 years since Cliven Bundy's armed standoff with BLM officers along Interstate 15 northeast of Las Vegas, near the town of Bunkerville. Ranchers were angry after the BLM rounded up their cattle a tense battle over grazing rights. The cattle were eventually released, diffusing the situation, but prosecutors pursued a court case against Bundy and his family.
Before that, the Sagebrush Rebellion in the 1970s and 1980s traces its roots to Nevada and other western states.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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