MARK WAITE / PVT Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley stretches her arms out to demonstrate all the room on the apron at the Tonopah Airport, formerly a U.S. Air Force base. Advertisement

The proposed Pahrump Airport, two and a half miles southwest of Gamebird and Winchester roads, near the California state line, is still in the planning stages.

Charlie Gronda, a member of the town of Pahrump aviation technical advisory committee, said Aries Consultants completed the wind studies but still has to do some soil studies with a $375,000 FAA grant. The aviation technical advisory committee will then come back to implement the second phase of that grant for the environmental assessment, he said.

The proposed Pahrump airport site is a subject of debate from residents who would live near the flight path.

Elsewhere in Nye County, rural airports have a lot of elbow room. That kind of space is increasingly scarce in communities closer to big cities like Las Vegas.

Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley said she was surprised to be appointed to take over the Nevada Airport Managers Association in November, an organization representing officials from general aviation airports. But she hasn't been one to just look a gift horse in the mouth <!-- 2013(unknown) --> Nye County has been reaping the benefits of almost $1.5 million in Federal Aviation Administration grants this year to upgrade its three rural strips in Beatty, Tonopah and Gabbs.

"They are tremendous economic engines for rural communities. That's why during my time in office I have been a champion of the three county airports," Eastley said.

The Tonopah Airport in particular, a former U.S. Air Force base until it was shut down after World War II, has 3,800 acres of developable land. The third largest non-military apron in the U.S., it is situated on the only east-west flight path in a state with a great deal of restricted airspace. It is only an hour by plane from major seaports like San Francisco and Los Angeles and has one of the longest runways in the state.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management Battle Mountain district has identified another 22,000 acres around the airport for disposal in its resource management plan, Eastley said.

Unfortunately, the very isolation that leads to the abundance of space at the rural airports has created a quandary.

"We have to get two appraisals so we can lease a piece of land for economic development," Eastley said. "Appraisers won't come out here and appraise anything."

The requirements were passed by the last session of the Nevada legislature, Eastley said. A deed restriction imposed by the federal government states Nye County can no longer sell the land, it can only lease it out.

An entrepreneur who does top-secret testing for the Department of Defense would like to move out of an airport becoming more crowded due to growth in the Southwest and relocate to Tonopah, Eastley said. "He wants to be at the back door of federal facilities."

But due to the appraisal requirements, Eastley is worried the county may lose the tenant. "We're right at the back door of the Department of Defense. There are some companion industries where the Tonopah Airport would be ideal."

Nye County has been successful at snagging the FAA grants to plan for economic development. The FAA awarded the county $418,000 to remove 19,150 linear feet of fencing around Tonopah Airport and replace it. Eastley said it's a security measure. She said threats to homeland security could occur at rural airports, which are not attended at night.

Nye County will be required to come up with a $22,000 match for that project, but Eastley said the county can be reimbursed by the State Aviation Trust Fund, which she said was set up after millions of dollars in FAA grants went back to the federal government because small counties couldn't afford the 5 percent match. The Nevada Legislature provided $500,000 in startup money last session for the trust fund, she said.

The Gabbs Airport needs a lot of attention, Eastley said. The FAA awarded Nye County $1 million to install a lighted wind cone with a segmented circle, remove obstructions in the transitional area of a runway and widen the dirt runway. That will require a $53,395 county match.

The county was awarded $57,000 from the FAA to design an airport layout plan for Beatty to accommodate a crosswind runway, which will allow a pilot to fly into another runway at a different angle in the event of bad winds. The county's portion will be $3,000.

Commissioners recently voted to pave the road to Beatty Airport for $120,000. Eastley said there is a request for $400,000 in a federal Energy and Water bill for a renewable energy project at the old Barrick Bullfrog Mine near the Beatty Airport.

Now the Tonopah commissioner wants to apply for a $75,000 state economic development grant to fund a business and marketing plan for the Beatty and Tonopah airports. County commissioners are expected to meet Monday, Aug. 14, to beat the Aug. 22 deadline for submitting an application.

For now, the United Parcel Service is the most frequent visitor to the Tonopah Airport with a daily delivery, Eastley said. Eastley said she'd like to see a full-time airport manager to apply for grants and seek out prospective business clients as well as maintain the airport. The airport terminal remains from World War II days. Three planes sat on the apron this week, but there were no hangars, only tie-downs out in the open.

Foreland Refining Corp., which refines oil from Railroad Valley, and Tonopah Sand and Gravel Company, are the only businesses currently set up at the Tonopah Airport. A few large, wooden hangars sit with dilapidated roofs, but Eastley notes the concrete foundations are intact for any prospective businesses. Occasional gliding events attract hundreds of people to the airport, she said.