Over 80% of Nevada is public land, stewarded by federal agencies on behalf of the American people. These lands include vast deserts, mountains, forests, historic sites, and waterways. They are also the ancestral homelands of many Indigenous nations who continue to steward and care for these landscapes.

Public lands provide essential benefits to our communities. They protect clean water sources, preserve wildlife habitat, sustain biodiversity, and offer open spaces for recreation, renewal, and connection. For many families, these lands are where lifelong memories are made, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, and gathering in the beauty of God’s creation.

These landscapes are also economically significant, supporting outdoor recreation, tourism, ranching, and renewable energy development when managed responsibly.

At the same time, most public lands do not carry permanent conservation protections. Decisions about land use including mining, drilling, grazing, recreation, conservation, and renewable energy, are ongoing. As Nevada continues to grow and as economic pressures increase, questions about how these lands are managed will remain central to our state’s future.

A Lutheran Faith Perspective

As Lutherans, we believe creation is not a commodity to be exploited without limit, but a gift entrusted to our care. The ELCA social statement Caring for Creation reminds us: “The earth and all its creatures are God’s good creation… Human beings, created in God’s image, are called to serve and keep the earth.” Public lands represent a shared inheritance, meant to serve present and future generations. Stewardship requires discernment, balance, and humility. It asks us to consider:

• How do land-use decisions affect clean water and air?
• How do they impact Tribal sovereignty and Indigenous stewardship?
• How do they protect wildlife and fragile desert ecosystems?
• How do they sustain rural communities and future generations?

Faith calls us to resist both indifference and fear. Instead, we are invited into thoughtful engagement — ensuring that public lands remain places of access, ecological health, cultural respect, and shared responsibility.

Why This Matters for Nevada

Nevada’s deserts, basins, and mountain ranges are uniquely fragile. Water is scarce. Wildlife corridors are essential. Climate change intensifies drought and wildfire risk. Decisions made today will shape the ecological and economic health of our state for decades to come.

Public lands are not simply political territory. They are places of:

• Baptismal imagination: water as life.
• Sabbath rest: space to breathe and be renewed.
• Neighbor-love: protecting shared resources for all.
• Intergenerational justice: ensuring future Nevadans inherit a thriving landscape.

LEAN’s Calling:

We are called to:

• Support responsible stewardship of public lands.
• Advocate for policies that protect clean water and wildlife habitat.
• Respect Tribal sovereignty and partnership.
• Promote sustainable economic practices.
• Ensure public lands remain accessible to all people.

Caring for public lands is not about partisanship. It is about vocation, our shared responsibility to “serve and keep” the earth.

In Nevada, this is not abstract theology. It is our backyard.