Larry, per our phone conversation tonight.  I found this article interesting, 
especially in light of potential future expansions on TW.  Note the section 
below in bold Red text.  Camp Navajo is nearly due South of Station 2 just 
across Interstate 40 and as you know, Kachina Village is South of Flagstaff 
off Interstate 15.  This may or may not pose any direct threats to TW ROW's 
but, it does give us a flavor of public sentiment with regards to conserving 
these areas.....   Anyhow, fyi...  (Oh yea, The Grand Canyon Trust & The 
Nature Conservancy in Flagstaff share the same office building)  



New land pegged for preservation


By ANNE MINARD
Sun Staff Reporter
07/29/2001

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It's been less than a year since Arizona voters narrowly
rejected Proposition 100, a plan to protect 290,000
acres of State Trust Land from development.
And in about a month, voters could be asked to begin
signing petitions to get another initiative on the
ballot that would protect significantly more of the
state's legacy -- 1 million acres, or about 10 percent,
including thousands of acres in and around Flagstaff.

The difference, conservationists say, is that this land
has been chosen with the goal of protecting biologically
and aesthetically important areas. The environmental
community rallied against Prop. 100 because they said
the lands chosen for protection were insufficient and
had little value for conservation.

For example, the Proposition 100 campaign identified 10
acres of Rio De Flag in east Flagstaff -- near a
wastewater treatment plant outflow -- as one of the
state's "crown jewels" needing to be preserved.

Two other parcels in the Flagstaff area included 15
acres on Wildcat Hill with an unimpressive view of an
industrial park and 269 acres of steep slopes littered
with shot-up refrigerators and television sets called
Turkey Hills.

Rogers Lake, an important wetland and major ecosystem
south of Flagstaff, was also slated for preservation
under Prop 100. But that plan only included its soggy
lakebed, while 2,000 acres of highly developable
shoreline owned by the State Trust Land Department was
still up for grabs.

THE NEW PLAN

The new initiative would include all areas around Rogers
Lake, excluding those that are private or held by the
U.S. Forest Service. One proposed parcel does still fall
in the Turkey Hills area, and three others lie between
Flagstaff proper and Walnut Canyon (not included is
Section 20, which is likely to be sold and developed,
but at densities that are still in dispute between the
county and the city).

Other areas would include parcels around Observatory
Mesa (a contiguous chunk of land south and west of the
Naval Observatory) and a checkerboard pattern of
sections -- interspersed with Forest Service land --
south of Camp Navajo and west of Kachina Village and
Griffiths Spring.

Like Prop. 100, an initiative would be only a first
step. If it were to appear on the ballot and then pass,
it would take an act of Congress, and a constitutional
amendment, to change the availability of State Trust
Lands.

State Trust Lands include about 135 million acres across
the country -- 9.3 million in Arizona -- originally
allocated by the federal government when each state was
formed to help fund public schools. (See related story
on Page A11.)

Brad Ack, program director for the Flagstaff-based Grand
Canyon Trust who is helping spearhead the initiative,
said the state's schools shouldn't be bought and paid
for with proceeds from unmanaged sprawl. Areas set aside
under the initiative could still be leased for grazing,
agriculture or other current uses -- but they would
never be sold for commercial development.

Making an informed decision to set aside designated
State Trust Lands will free others from the battles that
now accompany proposals to develop them, he said.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between the
Grand Canyon Trust and other conservation groups, along
with some business and development affiliates.

And supporters are touting a recent poll conducted by
the Grand Canyon Trust, the Sonoran Institute in Tucson
and the Nature Conservancy that showed 88 percent of
Arizona voters agreed that some of Arizona's State Trust
Land should be conserved.

TALKING COMPENSATION

But members of the State Department of Lands charged
with managing the tracts -- and a lobbyist for
superintendents and principals in the state's school
system -- say the initiative backers are missing the
mark in the state land debate.

"We have a fundamental difference of opinion with our
friends in the environmental community," said Mike
Smith, a contract lobbyist for the Arizona School
Administrator Association. "Preserve, set aside ... we
think those are great ideas. The question is
compensation. Those State Trust Lands are in trust for
the schools. It's acutely important for schools to
maximize the returns on state lands."

Smith acknowledged that the awareness of their legacy is
new for the state's schools. Until recently, the schools
didn't see a whole lot of benefit from the state trusts.

"We haven't seen any of it. The state Legislature has
taken the annual earnings, and has used it to reduce
state aid coming out of the general fund."

That all changed with the passage of Proposition 301,
passed last year, he said.

"In addition to increasing sales tax for the schools ...
they also said, 'By the way, all new earnings from the
state trust fund go into the school site fund.' All of a
sudden, it's real different for us. Before it supplanted
our funding, now it will supplement it. It's real money
to us."

The Legislature will still keep the money it has been
earning from State Trust Lands -- about $80 million a
year. But anything above that mark will now go to the
schools, and both Smith and Nick Simonetta, manager of
communications and legislative affairs for the Arizona
Department of Lands, are optimistic that figure will
climb rapidly in the coming years. Simonetta estimates
the schools could see $650 million in addition to
legislative appropriations over the next decade.

LOOKING BACK

But the past irregularities are a stronghold for
conservationists who are promoting the land reform
initiative.

In background literature for its State Trust Land Reform
Initiative, the Grand Canyon Trust says that the State
Trust Lands haven't been used as they were intended
anyway, and very little money has gone to Arizona
schools.

"State Trust Lands currently provide less than 2 percent
of the annual funding for public education," the
document reads. "... there is little, if any, direct
benefit from State Trust Lands to our public schools."

Simonetta said he strongly disagrees with that
assessment.

"I think those statements are severely misleading and
not reflective of what is currently the case. You can
throw around percentages any way you want. If you look
at what the trust has been contributing to the school
construction budget, it's more like 30 or 40 percent."

Regardless, Simonetta and Smith agree that the future of
State Trust Land will rest on its ability to generate
funds -- and won't be given away for free.

"It comes down to this: We are in intense discussion
with the conservation community," Smith said. "Our
conversations are all around the question of
compensation. We are not going to support any initiative
that contemplates setting aside State Trust Land without
compensation. You can take that non-support as far as
you like. If they attempt to go to Congress, we are
going with them."

Anne Minard can be reached at aminard@azdailysun.com or
556-2253.