Amodei’s lands bill moves to Senate; Nevada delegation still split
Most of Nevada is owned by the federal government. A city or county cannot build houses, parks, or businesses on that land unless Congress approves the land transfer. The House has passed a bill that would do that for several parcels in northern Nevada. It would also let Pershing County sell or trade mixed railroad-era checkerboard land, add wilderness, and place land in trust for the Washoe Tribe. Money from the sales would stay in Nevada: 5% to schools, 10% to the local county, and 85% to conservation. The Senate now has the bill. If the Senate does not pass it before this Congress ends in January, the bill dies.
The bill is called the Northern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act of 2026, written by Representative Mark Amodei. The Carson City Republican is retiring at the end of this term and has spent more than a decade trying to move a northern Nevada lands package.
Amodei’s bill has advanced, but Nevada’s delegation is not in agreement behind it. Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democrats, have their own lands bills. Rosen’s Washoe and Pershing packages allow sales, add large conservation designations, and keep the money in Nevada. Cortez Masto’s Douglas bill transfers land for flood control, parks, and the Washoe Tribe and sells far less. Democrats also object to a provision that would let mining-claim holders buy burdened land outright. That mining question, especially on Pershing County’s checkerboard, is the other fight.
No Senate hearing is scheduled. Amodei leaves in January. If Rosen and Cortez Masto do not take up this text, rewrite it, or attach their own titles before then, the House bill dies with the Congress.
