Activists Sue Arizona Officials
Over Sales Of State Trust Land

SANTA FE, N.M. — A coalition of five environmental activist groups is suing Arizona Gov. Jane Hull and Land Commissioner Michael Anable over sales of state land.

Radical environmentalists filed a lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court on Nov. 3, claiming the Arizona Land Department is violating the state constitution in the way it promotes and sells state school trust lands to developers.

John Horning of the Forest Guardians, one of the groups suing Arizona, says the suit seeks to curb urban sprawl and bulk sales of Arizona state land.

The environmental groups say the state's actions have discriminated against efforts to preserve state trust land in favor of sales to developers. They also claim the Land Department has improperly distributed funds derived from the sale of trust lands.

The suit alleges that the Arizona Land Department is selling land in bulk sales to commercial developers, and that it promotes leapfrog development and urban sprawl. The suit also claims the land department has numerous other policies and practices which give developers privileges not afforded the rest of the public.

"Members of the public are not able to scrutinize contracts between the land department and developers and are not given the same amount of time to protest sales as are the developers who are awarded contracts to state lands," Horning says.

Lawyers for the environmentalists say sale of the land is at odds with directives in the Arizona Constitution and federal Enabling Act. Environmental extremists say the land must be managed for the highest and best use.

The Arizona Land Department says its management practices are in keeping with legal mandates.

The suit was filed just days before Arizona residents voted down an initiative to halt sprawl and leap-frog development by requiring developers to pay for the cost of development and involving citizens in land-use planning.

There are about 9.3 million acres of Arizona state trust land. The federal Enabling Act requires that revenue derived from the lands benefit state programs and institutions, primarily state schools. Other groups involved in filing the suit are the Save Our Sonoran, White Tanks Concerned Citizens, West Valley Alliance and Preservation of Big Springs.

A separate suit by Save Our Sonoran over 608 acres north of Scottsdale and Cave Creek is in the Arizona Court of Appeals. The Arizona Supreme Court has ordered a halt to the $38.5 million sale of the land by the state to U.S. Homes, a developer.

Save Our Sonoran says U.S. Home's development would destroy the rural character of the area and financially strain local municipalities that would have to provide water, sewer, sanitation and other services.