Public lands takeover bill draws Bundy crowd but is doomed

Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy and about 100 supporters of a bill challenging federal control of Nevada public lands descended on the capital Wednesday to support the measure, but it will all be for naught. Assembly Majority Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, said the Legislative Counsel Bureau has told leadership that Assembly Bill 408 from Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, is unconstitutional. “I wouldn’t expect us to move on that bill any further than it is now just because of the constitutionality of it,” Anderson said before the hearing began. Those attending the rally in support of the bill were quiet and orderly. The only minor dust-up occurred with an exchange between Bundy and a Native American man holding a sign saying “Bundy get off my property” who declined to be identified. Bundy said in his remarks that supporters of the bill are exercising their rights to have access to the 80-plus percent of Nevada land that is controlled by federal agencies. “We’re here to take our state back,” he said. At a rally in opposition to the bill, a crowd of about 50 called for the Legislature to keep Nevada’s public lands open to all. Critics say Fiore’s bill is unconstitutional and is based on a flawed legal theory about public lands, noting that on numerous occasions the U.S. Supreme Court has described the federal authority over public lands as “without limitation.” The hearing began with Fiore challenging the LCB legal opinion, noting that Nevadans have legalized medical marijuana despite a federal law to the contrary and the state has successfully fended off the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository for decades, both of which she said call into question federal authority over Nevada. More than two hours of testimony was presented by both supporters and opponents of the measure. But a further blow to the bill came in a fiscal note attached by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which estimated it would cost the Division of State Lands $95 million to implement if an estimated 60 million acres of lands were taken over by the state. The committee took no action on the bill...more