The anaconda snake wraps its body around its prey, preventing it from moving freely before squeezing it to death. When it comes to land, the federal government is doing something similar in Clark County.

As a percentage, Washington owns more of Nevada than any other state , and it’s not close. The feds control more than 80 percent of Nevada’s land, more than 56 million acres. In Utah, the next highest, it’s around 63 percent.

One might assume that most of that land is held by the National Park Service or Department of Defense. Those land holdings are understandable. But it’s the Bureau of Land Management that controls the vast majority of Nevada’s real estate — around 47 million acres.

It’s no better in Clark County, where the federal government controls 88 percent of the land . In 1998

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