By ERICA MELTZER Pima County will try to take advantage of the slowdown in the housing market to buy up state trust land it wants to preserve. Earlier this year, the county asked the state to put land on Tumamoc Hill up for auction so it can try to buy it.

By ERICA MELTZER Saving species would be done on regional basis Pima County plans to apply for a permit before the end of the year from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would allow development to move forward, even if it harmed threatened species.

By ERICA MELTZER Pima County taxpayers may end up buying a 106-acre Southwest Side property that the county designated for industrial use against the wishes of the owners, who wanted to put a residential subdivision there.

By ERICA MELTZER IS IT 'NAVIGABLE'? The Environmental Protection Agency has taken charge of deciding whether the Santa Cruz River is a "traditional navigable water" of the United States. Environmental groups pushed hard for the EPA to make the decision after the U.S.

By ERICA MELTZER Flow shift could hurt river habitat Pima County officials say a concern raised by the Ak-Chin Indian Community about effluent reaching its land could destroy riparian habitat in the Santa Cruz River that is sustained by discharge from county sewage-treatment plants.