FALLON, NV – A recent story in The Nevada Independent highlighted a settlement dispute between the U.S. Navy and ranchers from Fallon, Nevada, stemming from the future expansion of the Fallon Range Training Complex enacted in 2022. The Navy has agreed to compensate Justin Snow, a lifelong rancher from Nevada, for up to 100 years of generational loss for any land bought for the Navy for national security purposes. However, the Navy has continuously offered less money to ranchers – like Justin Snow and his family – than they are owed, and has been reluctant to work with the ranchers to find a compromise settlement that adequately compensates them for the loss of their ranch. U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) has spoken up for ranchers like the Snow family, actively lobbying the Navy on behalf of her constituents and pointedly questioning them in multiple committee hearings to ensure that Nevada ranchers get the compensation that they deserve. She is now working on a legislative solution to fix this problem once and for all.
Below are excerpts from the Nevada Independent article. Read the full piece HERE. This article was also reprinted in the Associated Press and Washington Post.
- Nevada cattle ranchers are taking on the highest reaches of the federal government over their rights to graze cows on public lands. They’re fighting this battle not with guns, but with the help of Nevada leaders across the political spectrum.
- For about a decade, the Navy has been eyeing the land on which the Snows graze their cattle. The military has said it needs more space at the Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC), where real-life TOPGUN pilots practice combat. Finally, in late 2022, Congress gave the Navy its shot, sparking years of conflict.
- Now, the Snows and other ranchers say they may have to shutter family operations going back generations, unless the Navy voluntarily revisits the deal it has offered them — or Congress forces it to negotiate
- Initially, the ranchers hoped they’d be able to coordinate a grazing schedule with the Navy, since hunters will retain some access to the land. But the government refused. Then, they hoped they might receive a replacement allotment. They were told nothing was available. They’d need to accept money instead.
- The solution seems most likely to come from Congress.
- “Politicians are sneaky,” said Chuck Kendricks, another rancher whose allotment will soon be affected. “But I have to admit, Jacky Rosen has jumped right on this and said, ‘No, no. You’re going to have to reimburse these ranchers for what you’re taking.'”
- Rosen has been working on an amendment to the upcoming defense funding bill that would provide additional guidance on how payouts to ranchers such as the Snows will be calculated.
- “While I’ve had productive conversations with Navy senior leadership, it’s become apparent that we need legislation to clarify how these payments are calculated and ensure Nevada ranchers are made whole,” Rosen wrote in a statement to The Nevada Independent. “I’m currently working to include language in the FY27 national defense bill that would significantly increase payments to the ranchers who are impacted, and I’ve made it clear to the Senate Armed Services Committee that addressing this issue is a top priority as the Senate and House go to conference on the bill.”
- The amendment is meant to allow flexibility in negotiations, though Rosen’s office expects it will raise the Navy’s baseline offer. The amendment includes factors that must be considered in calculating payments, including the diminished value of the rancher’s own properties and water rights, investments in permanent improvements to the land, problems with their existing loans and other losses.
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