Legal and policy implications for private developers acquiring BLM lands

Anyone driving the length of Nevada must notice the stark contrast between its dense northern and southern population centers on the one hand, and the vastness of seemingly untouched land in between on the other. Indeed, as companies increasingly look west for land to connect supply chains, construct corporate campuses and house large manufacturing facilities, Nevada likely emerges as a promising option. However, as our natives know all too well, that “empty” land has many claimants, from the federal government as its legal owner to America’s native people and citizens seeking recreation. Even the state of Nevada in codified statutory law has declared itself to have “a strong moral claim upon the public land retained by the federal government within Nevada’s borders.” (NRS 321.596).

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