By Mark Winkleman
The Arizona Republic Online
June 30, 2008
In 1912, Universal Pictures was a brand-new company, the modern zipper was new technology as was stainless steel, but the pop-up toaster wouldn’t be invented until 1919.
When Arizona became a state in 1912, less than 205,000 people lived here. We’re at 6 million now, and that number is likely at least to double to 12 million (or more) in 2050.
It’s a different life in a different world, and it makes sense to update the way we do business – particularly when it comes to our land.
Many don’t know it, but at statehood, Arizona was gifted with a tremendous asset: The federal government set aside more than 10 million acres to be held in trust, primarily to support public education. The mission was, and is, simple: Sell and lease the land as it makes sense to do so, then use the money to benefit our public schools.
Today, 9.3 million acres of that original gift remain, and it is the job of the State Land Department to act as stewards of that land.
Yet, today, we manage it in nearly the same way we did in 1912. For close to 100 years, the laws governing trust land have remained largely unchanged, denying us the tools we need to preserve open space and manage growth.
I believe the best way to bring our laws up-to-date is through the new “Conserving Arizona’s Water and Land” voter initiative. Petitions are circulating now, and if enough signatures are gathered, it will be on the November ballot, giving Arizona voters the chance to improve significantly the way we handle this precious land.
If it passes, the initiative would immediately prevent the development of 570,000 acres that are environmentally critical to protecting Arizona’s water sources. These lands are next to or part of some of the major natural landmarks, including the Superstition Mountains, Picacho Peak, McDowell Mountains and San Pedro River – areas that deserve to be protected.
For additional lands that are suitable for conservation, the initiative authorizes a process to allow the State Land Department to sell land directly to the cities and counties to be preserved.
Underlying all of this is a practical consideration: By adequately protecting these beautiful and environmentally sensitive areas, we ultimately increase the benefit to schools.
Think about it this way: Many people will pay top dollar to live near protected open space (just think about the homes adjacent to Piestewa Peak in Phoenix and the Catalina Mountains near Tucson. The desert vistas are what drew owners to those homes in the first place).
By improving the law, we create the best scenario: We protect delicate land from development while, at the same time, we increase the value of the developable land that lies closest to those pristine spaces.
State trust lands that, nearly 100 years ago, originally were usable only as grazing lands now are located in urban areas; some are among the most valuable lands in the Southwest.
In recent years, the State Land Department has sold state trust lands for prices that have exceeded $1 million per acre. In the past five years, we have generated more revenue from the sale of trust lands than during the prior 90 years combined. We’ve done a good job of making the most of what we have and creating the best possible revenue flow to our schools.
In November 2006, a proposal to update the Trust Land laws, Proposition 106, was narrowly defeated. The new “Conserving Arizona’s Water and Land” is an improvement over Proposition 106, as it is simpler and it immediately conserves more land from development.
With a change in the law, we will do even better. At the time of statehood, the U.S. government made a tremendous investment in our schools and our children. We make the best return on that investment by changing the law to allow smart and artful management of this gift.
The author is the director of the Arizona State Land Department.