That was the idea floated by Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury recently in response to the resurfacing of President Bush's proposal to take 70 percent of revenue from the land sales while leaving 30 percent for the state. He's looking for other local municipalities and county leaders to back his plan.

So far Woodbury has received some support and nods of "sympathy" from other county commissioners, he said.

"My proposal would be only if the federal government changes the formula by which the proceeds are distributed," Woodbury said. "Since so much of the land sales are on property in the outlying part of the Las Vegas Valley, it is a major strain on services."

Those in the development industry said Woodbury's comments are simply a knee-jerk reaction to Bush's hand in the money pot.

"My first reaction is that's stupid -- blackmail the feds? But then again, why not?" said Richard Lee, vice president of First American Title.

Woodbury further said if the BLM goes around municipalities to have land sales -- currently municipalities must nominate land to be sold at auction -- those government entities should refuse to grant zoning approvals on the land.

Woodbury said the burden of those land sales, without the subsequent money to help fund the needs of an expanding community, would outweigh the benefits.

While large land sales would be off the table under Woodbury's proposal, he said small infill parcels, close to existing services and other infrastructure, would still be OK to be sold and developed.

The land sales are made possible under the Southern Nevada Land Management Act passed by Congress in 1998. The revenue generated from land sales goes to state programs, with 5 percent going to the state of Nevada General Education Fund, and 10 percent to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The remaining 85 percent is used to acquire environmentally sensitive land in Nevada, develop a multi-species habitat plan, develop parks and trails and to use for other conservation projects.

The BLM has collected $1.7 billion since 1999 under the land management act. That includes money raised in the sale of more than 30,700 acres through auctions, direct sales, exchanges, mineral conveyances and forfeitures.

So if Clark County can't use the money raised from land auctions, just don't have them -- right?

The problem is that would most certainly bring development and growth in the county to an eventual grinding halt, industry insiders said.

"I have a problem with anybody saying we need to continue to restrict the amount of land that is available for housing," said Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc.

Smith said restricting the amount of available land for future development would mean that the price of land would continue to skyrocket and housing would become out of reach for even more people.

"I don't understand how politicians can think we can have more affordable housing by restricting the supply of land," Smith said.

Smith doubts Woodbury's idea would ever actually come to fruition.

Smith and fellow land expert Lee have estimated that within the BLM disposal boundary there are about 10 to 12 years left of developable land. That estimate includes land not sold yet via federal auction.

"That 10 years would probably be cut in half if no more auctions were to take place," Lee said. "The reason for the current legislation is to help the State of Nevada."

Lee suggested a counterproposal to Woodbury's proposal -- let Bush have his money but increase the amount dramatically that is used in Nevada for schools and water.

"I have sometimes wondered what the local BLM office was doing with (85) percent of money anyway," he said.

Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association, said Woodbury's proposal would be devastating for the community.

"It would be a de facto moratorium on growth," she said.

Woodbury counters that growth would not stop under his plan, pointing to the thousands of acres already sold at BLM auctions that have yet to be developed. He also said most of the proposals that come before the county are on infill parcels, which could be, and should be, used for building reasonably priced housing.

John Ritter, chief executive of Focus Property Group, which is building several master-planned communities throughout the Las Vegas Valley on land purchased through BLM auctions, said he thinks Woodbury is actually just being realistic.

"It has been my opinion, which I've expressed publicly, that Bush's proposal would negatively affect the motivation of the municipalities to continue to nominate land for sale. In the act's current structure, the majority of the money goes to offset some of the effects of growth and to improve the quality of life in their cities," he said.

The money is used to help build parks, trails and other recreational amenities. It helps with education and to address the costs of providing water and could also be used to help provide affordable housing in the valley, he said.

"If instead, very little of the money goes back to the cities, why would they be motivated to further burden themselves with growth with little or no benefit?" Ritter asked.

Ritter, who has been one of the most vocal opponents to Bush's idea to siphon off money from Nevada's public land sales, said the community needs to continue to "work diligently" to stop any grab of funds from Nevada that would "become a drop in the ocean to offset the deficit."

And Woodbury pointed out that his plan, if agreed to by other municipalities, would only go into effect if Bush's plan passes.

While perhaps it may take several years to get to a crisis situation in terms of housing, prices would surely increase if the amount of developable land were to be cut in half.

The community and its political leaders need to work together so Woodbury's idea won't have to be contemplated.

"I'm hoping we can stop Congress from changing the formula. I want Congress to know that this would happen and it would not reduce the deficit to extent they think it will," Woodbury said. "I hope we can all work together to oppose the administration and legislation before Congress."

In other news

• The Nevada-area operations of Pulte Homes has earned certification from the NAHB Research Center's National Housing Quality (NHQ) Program, a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders.

NHQ certification is presented to builders who have documented and implemented their quality management systems, and participated in a rigorous review of the implementation of those systems. The Nevada area operations of Pulte Homes, including several communities built under its Del Webb brand, were recently awarded their quality assurance certification following a rigorous NAHB Research Center quality assurance audit.

The Nevada Area of Pulte Homes is among five builders in the nation to successfully complete the NHQ certification process to date.

• Apartment rents continue to fall, according to CB Richard Ellis, Las Vegas. Vacancies in March reached 4.27 percent from 4.37 percent in February.

• Las Vegas-based 11th Floor Development Co. is purchasing 1.5 acres in Desert Canyon, the 15-acre master-planned business park being developed by Nigro Development. The project is located at I-215 and Russell Road, adjacent to Southern Hills Hospital.

11th Floor Developments plans include building a 20,000-square-foot building for its sister firms, one11 (an advertising agency), 11werks (an interior design firm) and its real estate design and development division. Any remaining space will be leased.

The groundbreaking for the $4 million building is expected in fall 2005.

• Shea Commercial had a groundbreaking this week for its Shea at Shadow Crest office park at the northeast corner of Warm Springs Road and Spencer Street. The complex includes seven for-sale offices ranging in size from 5,178 square feet to 7,570 square feet, three of which are presold, the company said.

• California-based Equus Realty Advisors, LLC, a real estate investment firm, purchased its first property in Nevada: the Park Flamingo, an 112,682-square-foot office building at 2080-2090 E. Flamingo Road. The purchase price was $10.25 million and occupancy was 42 percent at the time of sale. The seller was Park Flamingo West, LLC.

• Family Dollar opened its 16th Nevada store last month at 3285 Simmons St.

Jennifer Shubinski covers real estate and development for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8832 or by e-mail at js@lasvegassun.com