Complex land deal would harm Arizona biking
IMBA Trail News
Volume 11, Number 4
September-October 1998
The Mountain Bike Association of Arizona (MBAA) is opposing a land trade proposed for private, state and national forest lands in vicinity of Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Carefree, Arizona. MBAA seeks support from IMBA members (see Action Alert, back page).
The trade would facilitate preservation of the beautiful Spur Cross Ranch north of Cave Creek, on the extreme northeastern boundary of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The ranch would be traded into the Tonto National Forest. But in exchange the Tonto National Forest would trade a parcel of land southwest of Care Free which is vital for recreation and open space and serves as a public lands gateway. The national forest parcel at risk is located at the northern end of the increasingly popular Pima and Dynamite trail system, which provides recreation opportunities for all varieties of trail users. This is one of the last unprotected landscapes in the Scottsdale area and activists are hoping to save it from the extreme pressures of residential and commercial development.
The Pima and Dynamite trail system is adjacent to the land which originally served as the course of the Cactus Cup mountain bike race. The Cup was forced to move its location when the land was developed.
The Pima and Dynamite system (named after two roads which define its southwest corner) is on land which is part national forest, part Arizona State Land, and part private (Brown's Ranch). Arizona state lands are managed exclusively to raise money for public schools, so pressure to sell them is significant.
Additional national forest lands may be included in the trade, but these have not yet been identified.
"If this strip of national forest land is traded and developed, trails in the Pima and Dynamite Trail System might be truncated, restricted or bulldozed, and further development in this area would probably follow quickly," wrote Sonia Overholser, an attorney who serves as MBAA's volunteer Trails and Access director. "Moreover, access from the Phoenix/Scottsdale metropolitan area to the Tonto National Forest would be hindered by a ring of exclusive golf courses and gated communities.... Located only a half-hour's drive from the metro area, Pima & Dynamite is one of the last few remaining areas of unenclosed, unrestricted desert that can still be reached and enjoyed by ordinary citizens and taxpayers. Access should not be restricted only to millionaire homeowners and golfers."
Activists hope to buy the state parcels and Browns Ranch. The best hope is a sales tax passed a few years ago by the voters of the City of Scottsdale to fund open space purchases in nearby mountains. The tax raised more money than expected and the city man aged to purchase 80% of the targeted properties. This November, Scottsdale voters will go to the polls to consider authorizing the purchase the desert of Pima & Dynamite. Overholser supports the initiative: "If Scottsdale wants to make its mark in the mountain biking world, it's got to save the trail system."
Opposing the Forest Service land trade, she commented, "We don't have to give up one piece of preservation land for another. We don't have to split the baby."
