How Much of Nevada's Lands Is Active Military Zones?

I was reading a website about Nevada that said the federal government owns 86% of the state's land mass, the highest percentage of all 50 states. How much of that is active military zones and who manages the rest of it?

Actually, the feds claim 84.9% of Nevada ground, but it's true that it's the highest percentage in the union.

In terms of actual measurements, Nellis (3.1 square miles) and Creech (1.9 square miles) Air Force bases, the Naval Air Station in Fallon (12.3 square miles), and the Hawthorne Army Depot (235 square miles) account for a mere 252.3 square miles of Nevada’s total 110,567 square miles (0.00228).

However, if you include the Nevada Test and Training Range around Nellis (4,800 square miles) and the Fallon Training Range (390 square miles), that total grows by a factor of 123. (The Nevada Test Site, now known officially as the Nevada National Security Site, is controlled by the Department of Energy, not the Department of Defense.) A handful of small restricted military areas add another roughly 28 square miles. All in all, actual bases and related land add up to approximately 5,470 square miles, which is still less than one-half of one percent of Nevada's total lands.

The military also controls 10,000 square miles of restricted airspace around the Nellis Range and 13,000 square miles of airspace around the Fallon Range, though that doesn’t translate into land area.

The rest of the federal lands within the boundaries of Nevada are controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (84% of federal acreage), the U.S. Forest Service (10%), Department of Energy (5%), and the remaining 1% by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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Comments

[email protected] Jan-28-2021

Curious

How big is the place popularly known as "Area 51" and who controls it?  Is it included in one of the places you list above?  Thanks!

Ray Jan-28-2021

5% not 1/2

approx. 5500 Sq. mi divided by approx. 110,000 sq. mi is about five percent, not one-half of a percent.

Jackie Jan-28-2021

@Ischulz

Area 51 is part of the Nevada Test and Training Range.
Who controls is the US Air Force.
And YES, it is included in one of the places listed above.

kennethross Jan-28-2021

I’m glad to see this.

I’d been wondering about this, but had no clue about how to find this information.
LVA comes through, yet again!

Question of the Day - 28 January 2021

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