Message-ID: <5414433.1075851925084.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 13:44:00 -0700 (PDT) From: david.roensch@enron.com To: larry.campbell@enron.com, john.shafer@enron.com Subject: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: David Roensch X-To: Larry Campbell, John Shafer X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Larry_Campbell_Nov2001_1\Notes Folders\Sundevil pipeline project X-Origin: CAMPBELL-L X-FileName: lcampbe.nsf 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 | Reader Comments 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.