So, on December 8, the former
research professor and director of UNLV's Lake Mead
Limnological Research Center, wrote Nevada's senior U.S.
Senator, Harry Reid.
"Can they do that?" asked Paulson,
who had visited the BLM office in his role as water
consultant for the Nevada Seniors Coalition.
"It doesn't seem right that we can't find
out what the property is worth," he wrote. "Is
that the way the so called "Olympic" land swap
that involves 3,800 acres and the "American Land
Conservancy" deal for another 6,002 acres in the
southwestern portion of the valley will be handled
too?"
It is four weeks later now, and if Dr. Paulson
has not yet heard from Senator Reid, it may be because
Reid doesn't know quite what to say.
That's because, Electric Nevada has
learned, Nevada's senior senator is himself a major
source of in-state BLM officials' anxiety that nothing at
all should interfere with the Del Webb land swap.
Reid is now, because of his ranking status on
the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
the single most powerful Democrat in the Senate
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when it comes to either
natural resource issues or power over the U.S. Department
of Interior -- of which the BLM is a part.
And, for some reason, the Del Webb land swap
is very much something Harry Reid wants to go through.
On at least one occasion, according to a
confidential source familiar with events in the Las Vegas
BLM office in late October, 1994, Reid made his wishes extremely
clear to officials there.
According to the source, Reid, accompanied by
Del Webb lawyers Virginia Turner and Don Moon, met with
the-then assistant district manager, Gary Ryan, and very
strongly emphasized he was supporting Del Webb's bid for
almost 5,000 acres of Clark County land worth an
estimated $50 million.
"The Senator was very clear that Del Webb
was to be a priority" for the office, said the
source, adding Reid said that Del Webb was "'to be
put on the top of the pile and not have to go to the end
of the line.'"
Nevada's senior senator also told assistant
district manager Ryan to "take a personal interest
and assist Del Webb in
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