...One group of people not allowing other people to use our own land, yes as taxpayers it is our land. Why does the US government need to own 90% of Nevada?
I am all for responsible land use and I am not condoning irresponsible land use, but the extremes have to stop...
I also feel very strongly that we own this land and have the rights to use it. With those rights come responsibilities. Unfortunately, I see ample evidence that many of our fellow landowners feel they have unlimited rights to dump old washing machines and tires, drive over living plants, shoot up road signs, leave oil spills, and destroy or steal historical artifacts.
The majority (about 87 percent) of the land in Nevada is owned by the people of the United States. It is mostly managed by the federal government through a variety of agencies. The two biggest are the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Another land management agency is the Department of Defense. As a taxpayer and a resident of Nevada, I think it is prudent to have the government keep civilians from wandering into military bases, bombing ranges, and a nuclear test site.
I'm also glad that such a large expanse of my home state is managed by agencies that promote and are required to accommodate public recreation. If that land was privately owned most of it would be fenced and I would not have access to it.
The little valley I live in is just about surrounded by public lands managed by the Forest Service and the BLM. Forest Service lands are more tightly regulated than BLM lands. And it shows. On BLM lands I see a lot more illegal dumping, more litter, more illegal trails, more erosion, more abuse, and more evidence of people who just don't care about the land that belongs to all of us. Nearly all the privately owned land is not accessible so I don't get to see any of that.