Sonoita Area Land Ownership
 National Forest |
 BLM |
 State Trust |
 Private |
Public lands play a leading role in the quality of life we enjoy in NE Santa Cruz County. They provide recreation, wildlife habitat, and views. The public lands are also an economic asset and part of local history. Grazing continues on most public lands, and the area^s ranching heritage is preserved at the BLM^s Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area. Though it is hard to quantify, the open space values offered by public lands certainly contribute to real estate values. Public lands are essential to the tourism industry for the same reasons they add so much to local quality of life. Some of the public lands in our area also represent a major public investment. The Empire-Cienega Ranch was acquired in 1988 for $41.7 million.
Public lands are important, and our community needs effective ways to work with public land managers. The policies adopted here respond to what Appendix C shows: there is ample legal authority enabling, even requiring, federal agencies to consult local comprehensive plans and cooperate in local planning efforts. These policies will help state and federal agencies understand how their planning and management efforts can help us meet the goals of this plan. These policies also address our community's need for a good working relationship with the Arizona Department of Transportation. Community involvement in future planning for State Highways 82 and 83 is essential to the implementation of this plan. The designation of Highway 83 north of the Sonoita Crossroads and Highway 82 from the crossroads to Patagonia as a scenic byway may make it possible to obtain transportation funds for the acquisition of scenic easements that would help implement the open space strategies (see Policy 6) of this plan.
In 1999, Congressman Jim Kolbe and a coalition of area residents, land users, and local conservation and recreation groups proposed that an NCA be established in eastern Pima and NE Santa Cruz Counties, with the Empire-Cienega RCA as its core. Legislation was introduced by Congressmen Kolbe and Pastor in September 1999, but had not yet been enacted at the time this plan was proposed. Appendix D-1 briefly describes the proposed NCA.
The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (NCA) should be created as a vehicle for enhanced open space and watershed protection, and sustainable local economic development, including:
Congress gave the trust lands to the State of Arizona for the support of specific public institutions, primarily schools. There are more than 12,000 acres of state trust lands in NE Santa Cruz County, accounting for about 10% of the total area. The color plate that follows page 10 shows that these lands are mostly in the Mustang Mountains or on the edge of the Empire-Cienega Ranch, both of which are included in the Open Space Framework proposed in this plan (see Policy 6). Most of the state trust lands are also part of the proposed NCA.
State trust lands in the Mustang Mountains and near the Empire-Cienega RCA have substantial scenic and wildlife habitat value in their present grazing use. They are part of the Open Space Framework identified in this plan and should be made part of the Las Cienegas NCA via purchase or exchange. Isolated parcels of state trust land should come into private ownership only via exchange for private lands that are within the Open Space Framework designated in this plan. This would require exchange authority for the Arizona State Land Department, which we support. Exchanges, or other transactions by which state trust lands come into private ownership should not proceed until it is clear that any resulting development will comply with this plan.
The BLM administers some 12,000 acres in NE Santa Cruz County. BLM^s Tucson Field Office initiated the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership (SVPP), which is finishing a multi-year collaborative effort of planning for the management of the Empire-Cienega RCA. That effort created a relationship between this community and BLM that we hope will serve as a model for other agencies. The BLM also provided technical and financial support for the preparation of this plan.
We will continue to work closely with the Bureau of Land Management on issues of mutual concern. We support the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership^s management planning effort for the Empire-Cienega RCA, and the incorporation of the SVPP^s plan into this document upon its completion and final public review.
Nearly 40,000 acres of NE Santa Cruz County are in the Coronado National Forest, including most of the Canelo Hills and the eastern slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains. Management of national forest lands is currently guided by a plan that dates from 1986. Like most forest plans of that era, it offers tables of numbers and lists of activities without communicating a clear vision of how specific forest lands will be managed.
Land exchanges proposed in the current forest plan have been controversial in our community. SCCF unsuccessfully appealed the 1999 Sierra Grande Land Exchange to the Regional Forester. These exchanges, which are on the eastern slope of the Santa Ritas, add to the buildout potential of an area where additional land for development clearly is not needed. They also diminish opportunities for public recreation and fragment the open space and wildlife corridors connecting national forest lands in the Santa Ritas with the Empire-Cienega RCA and the proposed NCA. The remaining proposed exchanges are not consistent with our community vision.
The 1986 Coronado National Forest Plan should be replaced with a new plan that is developed through a collaborative effort involving our community and all other interested citizens. This effort should result in a plan that conveys a useful vision of the management of specific land areas. The Forest Service should cease to make land trades in this area until the new plan is adopted.
State Highways 82 and 83 provide access to NE Santa Cruz County, and are the principal arterial roads in our community. The graph below traces the increase in traffic volumes on these state routes during the late 1990^s. The traffic counter data on which the graph is based are summarized in Appendix A. Note the rapid increase in traffic flowing between the Sonoita Crossroads and I-10.
Growth guarantees increasing friction between local and through traffic at the Sonoita Crossroads. Strategy 5.A calls for our community and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to work together to mitigate this conflict, following the general direction of Policy 13. Growth also means that more people will be enjoying the scenic views from our local state highways.
Highway 83 north of Sonoita and Highway 82 from Sonoita west to Patagonia were designated as the Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road in 1985. Acquisition of scenic easements along scenic byways qualifies as a "transportation enhancement," as defined by the federal transportation funding law: TEA-21. TEA-21 makes some $620 million available for enhancements every year and Arizona receives a portion of that money. At the time this plan was proposed, ADOT was planning to begin a corridor management planning effort that would provide the necessary technical basis for funding the acquisition of scenic easements along Highways 82 and 83.
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) should work cooperatively with the Southern Arizona Grasslands Trust and other local organizations to acquire scenic easements along State Routes 82 and 83. ADOT should also cooperate with the community in the implementation of other parts of this plan.
Next: Open Space - Night Sky
Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum
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Sonoita, AZ 85637
© 2000 Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum