Arizona conservationists file initiative to protect state land
Source: TheDailyDispatch.com
April 16, 2008
PHOENIX (AP) -Conservationists want Arizona voters to amend the state Constitution to help preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of state trust land as open space, a proposal likely to spark renewed debate over environmental and education concerns.
An initiative drive formally launched Friday with a filing with the Secretary of State’s Office is aimed at putting the proposed amendment on the November ballot.
Key elements of the proposal include designating approximately 570,000 acres of trust land for conservation as open space without payment to the trust. Current uses, such as grazing leases, could continue if compatible with conservation status, supporters said.
Additional acreage could be purchased for conservation at appraised values. Those values typically are less than prices paid at auction.
The proposal also would let the state Land Department, which manages trust land, keep a portion of trust land revenue to improve its planning and management. The Legislature would determine the amount.
Supporters said the proposal would promote ``well-planned growth and conservation’’ while increasing the long-term value of trust land and protecting the interests of beneficiaries.
The state has 9.3 million acres of trust land, left from 10.9 million acres given Arizona by the federal government at statehood. Revenue from sales and leases benefit K-12 schools, universities and other public institutions.
Uses and development of trust land has become a contentious issue in fast-growing Arizona because of pressures to preserve some of the property as open space, particularly near urban areas, and to increase education funding.
The 570,000 acres are identified in the initiative both by legal description and by maps showing their locations.
The maps show 60 parcels along the San Pedro and Verde rivers and in or near Tucson, Flagstaff, Nogales, Douglas, Sierra Vista, Tombstone, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Oracle, Eloy, Marana, Apache Junction, Cave Creek, Winslow, Prescott and Wickenburg.
The parcels were chosen for reasons that included wildlife habitat, culture values and usefulness as buffers for parks and other sensitive areas, said Pat Graham, Nature Conservancy state director.
A powerful education lobby _ the Arizona School Boards Association _ opposed Proposition 106, a similar 2006 ballot measure. It was backed by conservationists and a teachers union but narrowly rejected by voters. A rival measure that would have conserved less land was overwhelmingly rejected.
The school boards group argued in 2006 that setting aside trust land for conservation without compensation to the trust would hurt education funding, and an ASBA official voiced similar reservations about the new proposal.
The ASBA hasn’t yet calculated the value of the land involved but it is a lot of acreage, lobbyist Janice Palmer said Friday. ``We need to take a very hard look that this isn’t taking away money from education,’’ she said.
Graham said education funding wouldn’t be sacrificed because plenty of other trust land still would be available for development.
``If there were an inadequate supply that could be a valid argument, but there isn’t,’’ he said. ``You don’t have to choose. You can have both.’’
The filing comes weeks after the end of legislative negotiations organized by Gov. Janet Napolitano and aimed at putting a trust land proposal on the ballot. Representatives of groups indirectly involved with those talks said they hit an impasse over a homebuilding group’s demand for a ban on using money from impact fees for acquisition of trust land.
Graham said the initiative resulted from recent negotiations involving conservation, business and education groups. He said the Nature Conservancy is taking an initial leadership role while other groups consider whether to formally endorse the effort.
The Arizona Education Association was a major backer of Proposition 106 and its leaders participated in the recent talks. An AEA officer is listed as the new campaign’s treasurer but that’s only a ``placeholder’’ until the AEA’s board decides in about two weeks whether to back the new effort, said John Hartsell, spokesman for the teachers union.
On the Net:
Proposed 2008 initiatives: http://www.azsos.gov/election/2008/General/Initiatives.htm
Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org/
Arizona School Boards Association: http://www.azsba.org/
Land Department: http://www.land.state.az.us/
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