Sale of Las Vegas public land to fund Tahoe, Reno restoration projects

About $90 million to fund restoration projects at Lake Tahoe and across Nevada will be funded with money raised from the sale of public land near Las Vegas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last week. Revenue raised through the latest round of sales through the South Nevada Public Land Management Act also will provide $1 million for construction of a trailhead and trail system at Ballardini Ranch in southwest Reno, officials said. Round 11 of the land act raised $89.8 million, with $34.6 million going toward projects to restore a troubled environment in the Lake Tahoe Basin, officials said. More than $10 million will finance forest treatment to reduce wildfire danger at Tahoe and the Spring Mountains in Southern Nevada. The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act became law in October 1998. It allows the Bureau of Land Management to sell public land in Las Vegas to fund restoration projects and education, among other things...more