H.R. 2317
Northern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act of 2026
Sponsor: Mark E. Amodei · 0 cosponsors
Follow this billOfficial summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Northern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act of 2025
This bill provides for the designation, conveyance, exchange, sale, or disposal of certain federal lands in Nevada.
Specifically, the bill provides for the transfer of ownership of federal lands from the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to the State of Nevada, counties (Douglas, Clark, Pershing, and Elko Counties), cities (Carson City, City of Elko, the City of Fernley, and the City of Sparks), the Incline Village General Improvement District, and the Truckee River Flood Management Authority for economic development, recreation, or certain public purposes.
It also designates specified parcels of federal land as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
The bill also releases the reversionary interest of the United States in the Jean Prison site, thereby allowing the State of Nevada to use the land for purposes unrelated to the prison.
It also allows the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to establish a federal complex for specified Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bureau of Indian Affairs offices or headquarters in Nevada on certain federal lands.
Additionally, the bill takes land into trust for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California.
Text of the bill
I DOUGLAS COUNTY
A Land Conveyances and Sales
B Tribal Cultural Resources
C Resolution of Burbank Canyons Wilderness Study Area
D Convey Forest Service Land for Public Purposes
II INCLINE VILLAGE FIRE PROTECTION
III NORTHERN NEVADA FLOOD PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT
IV CARSON CITY PUBLIC LANDS CORRECTION
V PERSHING COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION
Congress finds that—
(1) since the passage of the Act of July 1, 1862 (12 Stat. 489, chapter 120; commonly known as the Pacific Railway Act of 1862), under which railroad land grants along the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way created a checkerboard land pattern of alternating public land and privately owned land, management of the land in the checkerboard area has been a constant source of frustration for the County government, private landholders in the County, and the Federal Government;
(2) management of Federal land in the checkerboard area has been costly and difficult for the Federal land management agencies, creating a disincentive to manage the land effectively;
(3) parcels of land within the checkerboard area in the County will not vary significantly in appraised value by acre due to the similarity of highest and best use in the County; and
(4) consolidation of appropriate land within the checkerboard area through sales and exchanges for development and Federal management will—
(A) help improve the tax base of the County; and
(B) simplify management for the Federal Government.
A Land Sales and Exchanges
B Wilderness Areas
VI FEDERAL COMPLEX
VII ELKO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
VIII FERNLEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
IX CONVEYANCES TO THE CITY OF SPARKS
X GENERAL PROVISIONS
XI GREENLINK WEST PROJECT
XII JEAN PRISON TRANSFER