Public Lands: Nationally Threatened, Locally Growing
by Gary Beverly
I could fill a page with bullet points specifically listing the horrible attacks on our public land by the current federal administration. A few general examples of threats: revoke or shrink national monuments, cut budgets, revoke the roadless rule, and destroy old growth forests. National conservation groups have vigorously opposed these cuts with limited success–we are faced with an extremely difficult political environment. Nationally, the fix is through elections, which will take years of persistent effort.
Instead of wallowing in doom and gloom, let’s work locally. This is a more immediate remedy that has the support of Arizona citizens, including conservatives. As an example, we’ve already made great progress in politically conservative Yavapai County:
Glassford Hills Regional Park and Preserve: Prescott Valley, Prescott, and Yavapai County teamed up to purchase 3,500 acres of state land using funding from the cities and county, and $3.5M of state appropriation. Now at 4,100 acres, this is one of the largest regional municipally -owned parks in the US, made possible by local citizen groups who envisioned the park and vigorously lobbied city, county, and state elected officials. Local citizen power works!
Rio Verde Ranch was an 82-acre private ranch surrounded by Prescott National Forest, encompassing 0.6 miles of the upper Verde River. When the owner decided to sell, Yavapai Group was alarmed because, if developed and subdivided, forty2-acre parcels could be created in the heart of the forest in an area proposed as a Wild section of the Upper Verde Wild and Scenic River. After the realtor contacted us, we asked the Trust for Public Land (TPL) to help out. TPL negotiated the purchase and transfer to Prescott National Forest (PNF) using the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Rio Verde Ranch is now public land used as a trailhead to access the river–not a subdivision.
Verde Headwaters State Park: Del Rio Ranch, 3,200 acres bisected by Hwy 89 north of Prescott, has a rich history. It includes Del Rio Springs (the historical headwaters of the Verde River), indigenous sites, the first territorial capitol of Arizona, a ranching heritage, historic operations by the Fred Harvey Company, and a rich groundwater supply eyed by developers. Yavapai Group asked TPL for help. TPL successfully obtained a purchase option and arranged $9M funding from The Nature Conservancy, the AZ Legislature, and Yavapai County to acquire 720 acres for transfer to the State Parks. The support of our local legislative representatives was crucial. Chino Valley purchased an additional 22 acres, and we are working on obtaining funding to purchase an additional 286 acres.
Yavapai Ranch consists of 45,000 acres of checkerboard private and PNF lands. Local NGO’s are working to transfer the private land to PNF using funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Three of five phases are in the final stages of transfer, but funding cuts loom.
Persistent local advocacy with elected officials and collaboration with other conservation groups are a powerful force with huge impact.
