Like most Nevadans, I support sensible immigration reductions to slow down U.S. population growth and protect our state’s valued farmland and nature. Our exploding population growth is driving us quickly toward decisions we don’t want to have to make about reducing further the water needed for the health of the state’s aquatic and other wildlife, diverting water from our farmlands, or dangerously draining our aquifers.
No state eliminated natural habitat and farmland at a faster rate than Nevada during the latest 35-year period covered by available federal data (1982-2017).
The 153% increase in sprawl was more than twice as fast as all but a dozen other states.
The 237% rate of population growth was found by a recent study to be responsible for 83% of that increase in habitat and farmland destruction.
As the No. 1 driest states, Nevada should not have the No. 1 fastest population growth and No. 1 fastest growth in sprawl.
Nevadans don’t want this rate of growth and rural destruction to continue. A recent poll found that 82% of voters answered that they either want the population to grow “much more slowly” (40%) or not at all (42%). I agree with that.
As a Member of Congress, you can help by working to reduce annual immigration back to more moderate traditional levels. Federal immigration policies are now responsible for about 90% of the nation’s population growth. And most of Nevada’s population growth since 1980 is the direct result of immigration plus the Americans moving in from other states of much higher direct immigration, population growth and density, and cost of living.
Until federal officials lower and moderate the numerical level of immigration, even the best local plans and political commitment will be unable to stop the loss of Nevada farmland and open space resulting from human sprawl.
While policies of Congress continue to force U.S. population growth, there are many actions that Nevada can take locally to at least slow down the flow of new residents into the state and to mitigate some of the negative effects of the many who will still come. Although NumbersUSA is not involved directly in these efforts or in making endorsements of organizations, here are some resources:
