“We just feel strongly if federal land is going to be transferred, it should be returned to its original owners. Part of who we are, part of what identifies us as a people is the land we are on.” -Tribal Chairman Neil Mortimer
The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California wants to ask Congress for nearly 375 acres of federal land in Incline Village, including land that is currently part of Diamond Peak Ski Resort.
The Reno Gazette Journal reports the request is part of an effort by Washoe County to shift thousands of acres from federal to private or local government ownership. The Washoe Tribe’s request is a duplicate of a request from the Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID), the entity that operates the ski area and golf course.
Incline Village and county officials have been working together since 2016 in an effort to include the U.S. Forest Service-owned property in a draft of a lands bill that county officials would submit to Congress, but Chairman Mortimer said Washoe tribal officials only recently found out about the plan and didn’t get to participate in the earlier planning stages.
“They have been discussing this for two years, we have only known about it less than a month.”
Requests are in process and we will stay on top of this story as it develops and update as responses are made public.
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