Link Correction-Groups file suit on stealth land exchange |
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Greetings!
I sincerely apologize for the connection to the wrong
article. It has been corrected. Thanks,
Joanne Western Lands
Project filed
suit in
federal district
court today against the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) over a behind-the-scenes land trade
in Nevada. Western Lands was joined in the
challenge by the Nevada Outdoor Recreation
Association.
At issue is a development called Coyote Springs. In a
1988 congressional land trade, manufacturer
Aerojet acquired 42,000
acres of public land in Coyote Spring Valley north of
Las Vegas to build a
rocket
testing facility. 14,000 acres in the middle of the
property was set aside as protected desert
tortoise habitat under a lease with the BLM. Aerojet
subsequently
decided against building and sold 28,000 acres of the
non-leased land to
Harvey Whittemore. In 2005, to
accommodate Whittemore, the BLM issued
a “corrective patent” to
completely relocate 10,000 acres of the leased land
so that
he would have a contiguous piece of
property. (A patent is an instrument conveying public
land). The BLM has
stated that the new lease configuration would
benefit the threatened desert tortoise, but the
original configuration was designed under the same
rationale. BLM did not prepare an environmental
assessment before changing the boundaries, nor an
appraisal to determine whether Whittemore was
taking more valuable land. The backroom land
exchange violates the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy &
Management Act (FLPMA). Maps If you would like a copy of the complaint please contact our Staff Attorney, Chris Krupp [email protected]. Now, Whittemore is starting construction of a new city on the site, with 150,000 homes and ten-plus golf courses.
In addition to the shift in the lease lands, Whittemore has benefited from legislation that moved an empty transmission line right-of-way off his land, opening up 11,000 more acres to housing development. For more on the legislation refer to a 2004 LA Times article. For more on the lease and Whittemore's development see a recent LA Times article. Thank you to all of our members and supporters for your interest in these issues! Joanne, Janine and Chris
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email:
[email protected]
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