After a new law was passed in October, more than 13,000 acres of BLM land was transferred to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. Some residents in Spanish Springs say the change will impact where they can have fun.
Bryan Law says target shooting and off-roading in Hungry Valley have been long-time leisure activities for him and his friends.
"Some racing, I belonged to a club where we put on races out there, they were all BLM sanctioned races,” says Law.
Law and others who’ve recreated in the area will now notice signs which list the prohibited use of dumping, alcohol and firearms, and also off-road vehicles outside the designated area.
"I think some people knew about it but a lot of us found out the hard way when it was too late," says Law.
Stacey Montooth, public information officer with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, says it’s the severely polluted areas in Hungry Valley that led to laws banning fire arms and dumping.
"Right now the land is just in bad shape, this is a situation where a few people who couldn't follow the rules have spoiled it for everybody," says Montooth.
According to Montooth the land won't be completely exclusive to tribal members, and not all recreation will be banned because of the popularity of the Hungry Valley area.
“Peaceful recreation, they're riding their horses, they're backpacking and they're riding bikes and we want to continue to allow that, we have great neighbors who walk their dogs and we want them to continue to do that," says Montooth.
Law says he and his friends are okay with finding a new place to shoot or go riding, but their biggest worry is that Nevada’s development will continue to take away public lands.
"It's getting harder and harder to find open space, especially when we have spaces like Hungry Valley taken away from us," says Law.
