On March 25, 2026 Senator Cortez Masto introduced the Douglas County Economic Development and Conservation Act. This bill has been introduced in some form since 2016 but has yet to garner the support needed to get passed. This is one of many bills introduced by Cortez Masto that would transfer land to local counties and designate Wilderness in the process. This bill would remove public land from public use. Anytime a bill proposes Wilderness designations BRC strongly opposes it. Wilderness does not allow any mechanized or motorized use of any kind and is the most restrictive designation on our public lands.
This bill would:
- Transfer 7,777 acres of BLM and Forest Service land to Douglas County - This is a disposal of nearly 3% of the county's federal public land.
- Transfer 67 acres to the state of Nevada
- Transfer 1,084 acres to Douglas County for a recreation area (it is not specified what type of recreation and if motorized recreation will be protected in perpetuity)
- Transfers 724 acres (Dance Hill) to the Washoe Tribe
- Transfers an additional 2,669 acres into trust for the Washoe Tribe
- Allows the BLM to sell/dispose of 31.5 acres for development
- Designates 12,392 acres as the Burbank Canyons Wilderness
In total, the bill would transfer, sell or dispose of 12,352 acres of federal public land. Douglas County contains 275,000 acres of federal public land. This would constitute roughly 4.5% of all federal lands in this county. The share of lands for transfer is 6x greater than Mike Lee's bill from the summer of 2025, which BlueRibbon Coalition also opposed, at a rate of up to 0.75%. Where's the collective outrage and advocacy?
Example of Areas With Substantial OHV Routes that will be Transferred Under the Act
The lands that will be disposed of, traded or removed from public access are outlined and marked in the maps below. This bill will allow the USFS to simply sell off 31.5 acres of USFS land slated for "disposal" (number 19 in the map below) but does not specify for what or why. You will see that the Mount Seigel OHV Area and Johnson Lane OHV Area are at risk to lose acreage and access. Trails east of Topaz Lake would also be traded to local governments. Although the exact number isn't documented or disclosed, this bill, if passed, could close hundreds of miles of OHV routes.
Images courtesy of Trails Offroad. Get a 7-day free trial here!
Download high resolution map here.
The proposed Wilderness designation is currently a wilderness study area (WSA). Wilderness study areas can be undone, and have more flexibility than designated Wilderness. BRC supports bills to release wilderness study areas so that they can be used for multiple use and allow motorized recreation. This bill will do the opposite and ensure this land is locked up forever. Many wilderness study areas were designated by Congress to be studied and then released after they were studied. This specific WSA is not formally part of the congressional wilderness recommendation system. It is a WSA that was created through administrative planning. This means the BLM through their planning could remove the WSA designation at any point. If this bill passes, that is no longer an option. You can download the bill's text here.
This bill threatens many used OHV trails, gives our public lands to developers and will likely remove public access in perpetuity. Send a letter to your representatives below to oppose this bill.
