WASHINGTON -- In a parting message to Nevadans, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said this week that state leaders should reconsider their refusal to share the windfall from federal land sales in Clark County.
"I think people in Nevada should be thoughtful about where there are expanded uses" for the funds in other states, Norton said in an interview Tuesday as she prepares to leave the Bush Cabinet at the end of the month.
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"It really stands out that the entire Department of Interior budget is $10 billion, and Nevada is getting at least $1 billion in one year for projects just in Nevada," Norton said.
Southern Nevada land sales have raised more than $2 billion, which local officials have spent on parks, recreation and environmental projects. The money is kept in the state as a condition of the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.
While Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., struck a deal with the White House this year to shield the Nevada pot of money, Norton warned it is inevitable that federal executives and lawmakers will continue to try to siphon the lucrative account.
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