69–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–336 

PERSHING COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND 

CONSERVATION ACT 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1107] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1107) to promote conservation, improve public land management, and provide for sensible development in Pershing County, 

Nevada, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 

do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1107 is to promote conservation, improve 

public land management, and provide for sensible development in 

Pershing County, Nevada. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 1107, the Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act, is the result of over a decade of negotiations between 

locally-elected officials, miners, conservationists, sportsmen, ranchers, and residents in Pershing County, Nevada. The bill consolidates over 300,000 acres of checkerboard federal land previously 

identified for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); 

conveys land for mining and public purposes, including the transfer 

of a cemetery to the County; creates 136,072 acres of new wilderness areas; and releases roughly 48,600 acres of Wilderness Study 

Areas (WSA) to benefit conservation, recreation, and economic development in Pershing County, Nevada. 


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1 Coeur Mining, ‘‘Economic Development and Conservation Act Proposal—Pershing County, 

Nevada’’, 06/27/16. 

In Pershing County, 75% of the land is federally owned, with 

over 300,000 acres identified for disposal under the BLM’s 

Winnemucca District Resource Management Plan. H.R. 1107 allows 

for the sale of up to 150,000 acres of checkerboard land previously 

identified for disposal by the BLM. The County will work jointly 

with BLM to identify high-priority land sales along the I–80 corridor, east of the Rye Patch State Recreation Area, near the Humboldt River Ranch and West Humboldt Range to resolve the federal-nonfederal checkerboard pattern of ownership throughout the 

County. The sale and transfer of lands will streamline BLM’s management of the area and provide the County and State with additional revenues to jumpstart economic development. 

H.R. 1107 includes several land conveyances for public purposes 

and to consolidate mining operations in Pershing County. Several 

local companies will have the ability to acquire land from the BLM 

where they already own mining claims, millsites, or tunnel sites. 

According to one local mining company, allowing the consolidation 

and expansion of mining operations will lead to ‘‘greater investments, additional development and production from these lands, 

and important for Pershing County—economic development and 

jobs.’’ 1 The bill also conveys the Unionville Cemetery to Pershing 

County. Established in the 1870s, the 10-acre cemetery is still in 

use, although the BLM currently prohibits any additional burials. 

Transferring the land would ensure its continued use and allow 

residents of the County to bury their loved ones nearby. 

Of the proceeds from the sale, 5% will go to the State for educational purposes and 10% will go to Pershing County. The remaining 85% of the proceeds will be deposited in the Pershing County 

Special Account and fund reimbursements for land sales; wildlife 

habitat conservation projects; reimbursements for County drought 

projects; wildfire pre-suppression and restoration projects; future 

acquisition of environmentally sensitive land or lands that secure 

recreational access for the public; and surveys related to wilderness 

designations. 

H.R. 1107 also designates 136,072 acres of wilderness and releases approximately 48,600 acres of WSA. The new wilderness 

designations include 11,855 acres of the Mount Limbo WSA; 13,875 

acres in North Sahwave; 24,900 acres in the Bluewing Mountains; 

22,822 acres in the Selenite Mountains WSA; 14,942 acres in 

Fencemaker; 35,339 acres in Grandfathers encompassing the majority of two WSAs; and 12,339 acres known as Cain Mountain in 

the Augusta Mountain WSA. The bill also releases 48,600 acres of 

WSA studied since the early 2000s in Augusta Mountain, China 

Mountain, Mount Limbo, Selenite Mountains, and Tobin Range. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1107 was introduced on February 16, 2017, by Congressman 

Mark E. Amodei (R–NV). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On May 23, 2017, the Subcommittee 

held a hearing on the bill. On June 22, 2017, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 


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discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, 

and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on June 27, 2017. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

ACT

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 308(a) and 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 

received the following estimate for the bill from the Director of the 

Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, September 27, 2017. 

Hon. ROB BISHOP, 

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1107, the Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1107—Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act 

H.R. 1107 would establish a process to sell or exchange up to 

400,000 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) in Pershing County, Nevada, and also would 

designate 136,000 acres of other federal lands as wilderness. 

The bill would require BLM to conduct a mass appraisal of the 

affected lands. Based on an analysis of information provided by the 

Department of the Interior’s Office of Valuation Services, CBO estimates that conducting the appraisal would cost roughly $1 million 

in 2019; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. 

Title I would direct BLM to work with Pershing County to jointly 

select parcels from roughly 300,000 acres of federal land that would 

be conveyed to the county through sale or exchange. Because BLM 

has already identified those lands for disposal, CBO expects that 

any lands conveyed in this region eventually will be conveyed 

under current law. Under the bill, the agency would only be required to sell lands valued at more than $500 an acre. CBO expects 


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that lands valued at less than $500 an acre would be exchanged. 

The bill would authorize the agency to spend any proceeds from the 

sale of land, which would increase direct spending; however, based 

on information from BLM regarding the amount of similar lands 

sold state-wide in Nevada over the last five years (between 1,000 

and 3,000 acres) and the value of those lands (between $100 and 

$300 an acre), CBO estimates that any proceeds generated by the 

sale of the affected lands and the associated direct spending would 

be insignificant over the 2018–2027 period. 

Title II would require BLM to offer mining claims covering 

roughly 100,000 acres in Pershing County for sale at fair market 

value. However, CBO expects that few individuals or firms would 

elect to purchase those lands because under current law they would 

have the option to patent their mining claims after 2017. Mineral 

patents allow individuals and firms to acquire title to hardrock 

minerals and the associated surface rights under a federal mining 

claim at below-market rates. Each year since 1994, the Congress 

has included provisions in annual appropriations acts that prohibit 

BLM from accepting or processing applications for mineral patents. 

Because patents are prohibited only in the year the appropriations 

acts are enacted, BLM will be authorized to issue mineral patents 

beginning in 2018; the Congress would have to extend that prohibition in subsequent legislation. CBO expects that individuals or 

firms seeking to acquire title to federal mining claims generally 

would opt for a patent rather than purchase the claims using the 

process established under the bill. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting that provision would have no significant budgetary effect. 

Title III would designate 136,000 acres of federal land as wilderness. Designating federal land as wilderness could have an effect 

on the budget if the property generates receipts for the government 

and collection of those receipts would end under the wilderness 

designation. Because the bill would preserve existing grazing rights 

on the affected lands and CBO does not expect those lands to generate any other proceeds over the next 10 years, we estimate that 

enacting that provision would have no effect on the federal budget. 

Because enacting H.R. 1107 would affect direct spending, pay-asyou-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would not be significant. Enacting the bill 

would not affect revenues. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1107 would not increase net 

direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 1107 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The bill 

would benefit the governments of Pershing County, Nevada, and 

the State of Nevada by directing proceeds generated from federal 

land transactions to support environmental, land management, and 

education projects for those governments. Any costs incurred by 

public entities associated with land transactions would result from 

voluntary commitments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 


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of this bill is to promote conservation, improve public land management, and provide for sensible development in Pershing County, 

Nevada. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any directed 

rule makings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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