Forum discusses grassroots initiative to preserve
state land
by Ambria Hammel
NORTH VALLEY - Conserving the future of Arizona's open land-that's
what members of the North Country Conservancy and its advisors,
the Daisy Mountain Preservation Effort, are trying to accomplish
through a citizens' initiative.
They are petitioning to get "Conserving Arizona's Future,"
a grassroots initiative that would designate 694,000 acres throughout
the state as preserve land, on the November ballot. The two organizations
hosted an educational forum March 14 to present the initiative and
allow community members to ask questions of elected officials who
serve the affected areas.
Frank Grimmelman, chairman of NCC, told the more than 70 area residents
crowded into a meeting room at the Anthem Community Center that
the group is not anti development or anti construction, but believes
there is room for preservation of open space in their communities.
Attendees came mostly from Anthem, but over a dozen came from the
Desert Foothills and New River.
In more than an hour of presentations by the NCC, attendees heard
an overview of the initiative along with its positive and negative
community effects. "We stand for education in an absolutely
neutral manner," Grimmelman said.
Mike Rigney, executive director of the Desert Foothills Land Trust,
said the initiative would protect natural areas as state trust land,
reform its
management and facilitate funding for educational purposes. State
trust land, inherited from the federal government at the time of
statehood, is currently sold or leased to generate revenues that
support 14 state beneficiaries such as schools, state hospitals
and correctional facilities.
"Typically, the land is put to what's known as the 'highest
and best use,'" he said, something the land trust says needs
changing. Rigney said there is currently no mechanism for setting
aside the most ecologically, archaeologically or historically important
trust lands as preserves. Additionally, the State Land Department
can dictate land uses to communities that it feels will generate
the "highest and best use."
Deputy Land Commissioner Richard Hubbard said the use is a discretionary
decision made by studying the location within a community and its
potential for revenue. He points out that the difficulty with conservation
is it doesn't generate revenue for the trust. When the land is used
for conservation, the only funds generated are those from recreational
use permits citizens must possess to access state trust land. That
money goes into the state's general fund and isn't a significant
revenue source, according to Hubbard.
The initiative would create a board of trustees appointed by the
governor to serve in an advisory role. Rigney described it as a
window to the State Land Department. Responsibilities would include
the approval of transfer, sale and land use plans in areas designated
for conservation. The initiative would affect nearly 51,000 acres
in Maricopa County, including nearly 1,300 acres of Daisy Mountain,
2,000 acres at Spur Cross Ranch , more than 10,000 acres at Cave
Creek Regional Park and more than 600 acres of Continental Mountain
north of Carefree.
Sara Vannucci, NCC president, discussed the effect of "Conserving
Arizona's Future" by focusing on the concept of density transfer.
She cited the Anthem Community Center as an example of density transfer:
"the shift of all the value of the whole parcel onto a partial,
smaller slice of that entire parcel," as defined by the 2006
State Land Reform Initiative. Vannucci said density transfers make
sense in private development because the users know what amenities
they're getting as a trade off, but that wouldn't always be the
case with preservation.
She also pointed out that the initiative does not provide for money
to administer all preserves, but allows a percentage of the money
ordinarily deposited into permanent funds to be transferred to a
trust land management fund. She expressed concerns the money would
be under the direct supervision of a seven member board comprised
largely of individuals with a background in education, not in preservation
or land management.
Ann Hutchinson, the forum's moderator and executive vice president
of NCC, then introduced the panel of elected representatives and
stakeholders who shared their thoughts on the initiative.
Ray Barnes (R), state representative for District 7 and chairman
of the Environment Committee in the House, acknowledged the need
for business and the need for something to offset it as well. "...we've
got an awful lot of land here and if we don't start preserving it,
we're going to become New York City," he said.
Clancy Jayne, president of the Phoenix Parks and Conservancy Foundation,
said the initiative is a complicated issue because the group's goal
of changing state law carries an additional warning: If it passes,
its enactment would require a change to Arizona statutes and the
Enabling Act.
The Enabling Act requires the sale of state trust land at the highest
price through a bid process.
Penny Ketterman, past president of the Arizona Education Association
which supports the measure, said there needs to be a constitutional
amendment to allow Arizona to set aside land for preservation without
going through the auction process.
Maricopa County Supervisor Andy Kunasek, (R) District 3, and Cheryl
Lombard, government relations representative of the Nature Conservancy,
also participated on the panel.
Grimmelman concluded the meeting by admitting the North Country
Conservancy sees both advantages and disadvantages
to the initiative, but feels it brings into dialogue local and state
government and will let voters decide how state trust land should
be managed.
To learn more about the initiative, please visit to www.conservingarizonasfuture.com.
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