Open-Space Buys Lag on NW Side

By TONY DAVIS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The Northwest Side’s cacti and desert trees stand so dense that sometimes it’s impossible to squeeze through them.

They form an ironwood forest richer than any in the Tucson area, says a federal biologist, Scott Richardson, who has surveyed the area for more than a decade. Ironwood trees draw and shelter 160 plant species, including saguaros, and 80 bird species.

But nearly 10 years after voters approved the first of two major open-space bond issues, the Northwest Side lies near the bottom of the pack in reaping the bounty.

The 1997 and 2004 open-space bonds fetched $27.9 million and $174 million respectively, to target key habitat areas far from most people and gorgeous landscapes near the urban core.

But of $91 million spent so far, barely $2 million, or 2.2 percent of the total, has gone to buy Northwest Side land. The two ballot measures contained language making the Northwest Side legally eligible for at least 9 percent of the purchases.

On Tuesday, a long dispute between county officials and environmentalists over open space comes to a head when the Pima County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on buying four Northwest Side parcels totaling 33.47 acres for $2.47 million. The environmentalist Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection favors all four purchases. The county staff supports two.

County officials say their efforts to buy Northwest Side land have been hindered by high prices, unwilling sellers and difficulties in conserving state land.

But the county has also failed to pursue some Northwest Side private parcels; transferred 1997 bond money from the Northwest Side to other areas; and approved land-buying policies that critics say tied officials’ hands.

The area most flush with open-space money is the Tucson Mountain- Avra Valley region. It drew nearly $34 million, more than one-third of the total spent.

The Tucson Mountains became a magnet for open-space bonds because the land was highly visible, very scenic, close to the urban area and generally available for purchase, said Gayle Hartmann, a longtime open-space advocate.

Since the 1930s, the area has had a very organized neighborhood group, the Tucson Mountains Association, that has lobbied to secure open space. Finally, its former county supervisor, Ral Grijalva, now a U.S. representative, fought hard to bring money for its land.

The Tortolitas, by contrast, had no influential activist group until the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Development formed in the 1990s. But open-space lovers in the Tortolitas have also had an important adversary: County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

Reluctant to buy Northwest private land, he argues that its parcels are too small, fragmented and expensive. He prefers buying large ranches and farms lying farther from the metro area, to define the urban edge.

In the Northwest, he would rather focus on larger, state-owned parcels, such as 850 acres at Tangerine and Thornydale roads on which a private developer has sought an auction.

“One thing we should always remember when we are dealing with public money is that it should be spent cost-effectively and wisely,” Huckelberry said.

But the county’s choice has sparked bitterness among area residents and many environmentalists who worked hard to support the 1997 and 2004 bonds. They say they feel betrayed.

Lan Lester, a Northwest Coalition founder, has threatened along with others to fight a third big open-space bond election, for possibly $308 million and tentatively scheduled for November 2008, if more Northwest land isn’t bought soon.

“We can’t tolerate being screwed again,” said Lester, who chaired an advisory committee on the 1997 bond package. “Just as we can work hard for something, we can work hard against something.”

The coalition’s Carolyn Campbell says the county shouldn’t ignore smaller parcels. Biologists such as the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Richardson say some are important to the pygmy owl, the dwindling species that sparked creation of the county’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

Plus, environmentalists say the county shouldn’t hold off until state land is ready because it won’t come up for auction for at least two years and will draw deep-pocketed private bidders.

Of 11 Northwest Side residents interviewed randomly, 10 supported buying land there – not just to protect the desert but to prevent development and traffic congestion when the county lacks money to build an adequate road network.

“The streets here don’t accommodate the traffic,” said Mary Elandt, who has lived near Thornydale and Hardy roads for two years and on the Northwest Side for 29 years.

Without open space, eventually the area will feel like a concrete- laden city, said Pat Schootler, who has lived on the Northwest Side since 1978.

Jim Ewing, a biology teacher and Thornydale Road resident, said it’s important to protect smaller parcels. “They act as a way station for wildlife, a stopover point for migratory birds,” said Ewing, who teaches at Ironwood Ridge High School.

But Jim Gregory, another resident, said he has no problem with open land being developed as long as roads and public services exist.

“The closer in we can build like this, the less fuels we need to drive to work,” he said. “If we can’t build here, we go five miles out.”

But even if the county spent all of its open-space money in the Northwest, it wouldn’t reduce growth enough to make a big dent in the traffic problems, said Bill Roe, who chairs the County Conservation Acquisition Commission, which must approve all open- space purchases.

“Take a look at those four pieces on the board agenda,” Roe said. “If that were undeveloped, would that make one iota of difference in the traffic patterns? I suggest not.”

County officials also point out that they’ve bought 4,800 acres of Northwest Side land in the past, mostly for Tortolita Mountain and Arthur Pack parks, using bond money dating back to 1977 and 1986.

With the newer bonds, Huckelberry’s staff says it has done everything possible to find Northwest Side parcels for purchase.

Staffers have written to more than 140 landowners and called those listed in the phone book.

The county has been hobbled because 90 percent of the land slated to be saved in that area is owned by the State Land Department, said Nicole Fyffe, Huckelberry’s executive assistant. It can’t legally be sold solely for conservation except at competitive auction.

Only 15 of well over 100 private landowners in that area were willing sellers, Fyffe said. Of the 15, 11 potential deals fell through because biologists recommended against them or because the commission decided the asking prices were too high, among other reasons.

Condemning land for preservation from unwilling sellers was barred by the 2004 open-space bond plan. Huckelberry feels condemnation isn’t appropriate for buying open space and wanted to reassure property rights activists.

The county’s critics such as Campbell say that ban went too far.

They also say the county waited too long to start looking for Northwest Side land.

The county didn’t chase after seven private land parcels from the 1997 bond plan because it opted to concentrate on state land, recalled Jim Barry, Huckelberry’s former executive assistant.

But legislators and voters have repeatedly refused to approve reform measures to make open-space conservation buys of state land possible.

Finally, the county transferred more than $2 million in 1997 bond money planned to buy state land in the Honey Bee Canyon and Catalina State Park areas buy private land elsewhere that was available sooner. Those buys were very cost-effective, $4,000 to $6,000 an acre, said Huckelberry.

IF YOU GO

* What: Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting.

* Where: County Administration Building, 131 W. Congress St.

* When: 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Potential merits of open-space purchases in different regions

* The Northwest Side is rated “multiple use” by scientists for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, meaning its land can support three vulnerable species.

* It’s also rated a Special Species Management Area because it used to contain up to 12 adult pygmy owls.

* The Altar Valley southwest of Tucson and the Cienega Corridor southeast of Tucson are rated “biological core” areas, capable of supporting at least five vulnerable species.

* The Tucson Mountains are also rated multiple use and a special species management area.

Sources: Scott Richardson, biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Nicole Fyffe, executive assistant to County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

* Reporter Tony Davis: 806-7746 or tdavis@azstarnet.com.

(c) 2007 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.