Congresswoman Dina Titus has introduced legislation to reinstate 3,150 acres of BLM land to the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe to preserve their ancestral lands and help the tribe expand economic development on its Snow Mountain Reservation. 

“This legislation is crucial to the Las Vegas Paiute as they fulfill their goals of economic self-sufficiency and preservation of their ancestral lands,” Congresswoman Titus said. “It will foster a unique partnership with the City of Las Vegas to coordinate growth in the Northwest while allowing the tribe to pursue economic development to create jobs for its members.” 

“The Tribe truly appreciates this legislative effort by Congresswoman Titus. We have worked for a decade to receive what other tribes in Nevada already have – a return of a portion of our ancestral lands,” said Las Vegas Paiute Tribe Chairman Benny Tso. “This is an important step forward that has been supported by numerous Southern Nevada stakeholders, including the state and local governments and the Bureau of Land Management.”

The legislation will halt the BLM’s release of 3,150 acres of land for private development adjacent to the Las Vegas Paiute Snow Mountain Reservation. It will reaffirm an agreement reached between the City of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Paiute in 2021 to allow instead development of 933 acres adjacent to the Snow Mountain reservation only if approximately 3,100 acres of BLM lands are first added to the reservation as a buffer to that development. 

The legislation would restore ancestral lands to the tribe and protect them from unmitigated development adjacent to the reservation; maintain the interest of the energy corridor currently traversing the reservation and its potential to create jobs on the reservation; and set the stage for other development, including possible high-tech industries to support Creech Air Force Base. 

Representative Mark Amodei has signed onto the legislation as a cosponsor.

“This legislation is a ‘win-win’ protecting both the tribe and meeting growth demands of Southern Nevada,” Congresswoman Titus said.