Las Vegas Paiute Tribe looks to permanently expand reservation
Driving away from Las Vegas, some may look out of their car window and see only open expanses of the Mojave Desert.
But Benny Tso, chairman of the Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians, sees the complicated history of his people.
“These lands are our cultural heritage, a part of the Las Vegas Valley where our ancestors lived and died,” Tso said in a statement. “We want to preserve and protect them not only for Tribal members currently living, but for future generations.”
Last week, the Bureau of Land Management proposed protections against any new mining activity in the next 20 years for a 1,800-acre parcel of land directly north of the tribe’s Snow Mountain Reservation northwest of Las Vegas.
The reservation itself is a roughly 4,000-acre parcel of land between Mount Charleston and the Sheep Range that Congress gave back to the tribe in 1983.
Tso, who leads the tribal government, celebrates the temporary protections. However, he has been at the helm of a 10-year battle to have those lands permanently added to the reservation that the tribe is no closer to winning.
Prior to the establishment of the reservation, Las Vegas ranch owner Helen Stewart gave 10 acres of her land to the tribe in 1911. Today, the tribe owns a smoke shop in downtown Las Vegas and a sprawling golf resort.
“Some interests initially opposed our reservation expansion,” Tso said. “But the legislation has continued to fail.”
Nevada senator vows to press on
Provisions surrounding the transfer of land to the tribe can be found in the Clark County Lands Bill, known officially as the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act.
The latest iteration of it, proposed in the last Congress, would have opened 25,000 acres of public land for development in exchange for 2 million acres set aside for recreation and preservation.
The management of Clark County’s federally owned lands is a hot-button issue in 2025, with dueling priorities of protecting Mojave Desert wildlife and water while also accounting for the lack of available land to meet rising housing demands in Nevada’s largest city.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who sponsored the bill in the last session, said in a statement on Friday that she would see to it that a new version is reintroduced in the new Congress — with the sections about this parcel of land intact.
“I’m glad to see the BLM take this important step to protect this sacred land,” Cortez Masto said. “I’ll continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to pass my Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act into law to make these protections permanent.”
Tribal leaders will press Nevada’s congressional delegation to expand the reservation, Tso said.
“The Tribe is fully prepared to support her efforts provided we are included as we were in her previous bills,” Tso said, adding that the tribe will work with Clark County, the city of Las Vegas, NV Energy and the Southern Nevada Water Authority to seek the bill’s passage.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.