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Lombardo unveils BLM-backed map to identify land available for developers
LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL
June 23, 2026
Gov. Joe Lombardo unveiled a new interactive map in a bid to try and help more private developers access federal land as a growing chorus of real estate stakeholders decry the situation.
The publicly available tool, available here, is the product of an April 2025 data sharing agreement between Lombardo, the Nevada Division of Minerals and Nevada’s Bureau of Land Management. The map shares where federal land may be available for disposal across Nevada.
“With over 80 percent of Nevada’s land managed by the federal government, having timely access to accurate information is essential for responsible growth and long-term planning,” Lombardo said in a statement.
A recent Nevada Policy report outlined how the federal government controls approximately 85 percent of the land in the state, the highest percentage of any state in the country.
“Even as Nevada’s population and industry has grown throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, federal agencies have retained an iron grip on control of the state’s lands. In 1990, Nevada was home to roughly 1.2 million residents, and the federal government controlled approximately the same share of land that it does today,” reads the report. “More than three decades later, Nevada’s population has grown to over 3.2 million people, yet federal agencies still control about 85 percent of the state’s acreage. Evidently, the disposal of public lands has not kept up with the rapid growth of the state.”
Lombardo has made housing and affordability a key pillar of his campaign, holding working groups with federal counterparts, roundtables and amassing key stakeholder groups to try and bring the cost of living down. Las Vegas’ housing crisis kicked off during the pandemic due to COVID lockdowns and inflation as the median sale price for a house has essentially doubled since 2019. Wage growth has failed to keep up with the cost of housing in both the valley and across the country since the pandemic.
Meanwhile building has slowed in Las Vegas and across the nation as rents have yet to return to pre-pandemic norms. Real estate developers said accessing federally controlled land in Southern Nevada is the biggest deterrent holding back development of both housing units and apartment rental units, and if the land were available it could bring down the cost of living for locals.
Author: Patrick Blennerhassett