ARIZONA DAILY STAR:  Mon., April 30, 2007

Proposed reserve gains political ground

By Tim Ellis

            Hikers, bikers and other fans of the proposed West Desert Preserve cheered last month when they learned that it had been added to a list of lands that could be protected under a bill making its way through the Legislature.  But the legislation has a long way to go before the 2,073-acre swath of land west of Green Valley would be kept from development.

            So a local group wants to let people know about the area, which is laced with trails and peppered with an endangered species of cactus.   In the process, the group hopes to boost support for the legislation that would protect it and other state trust lands with conservation value, said Bill Adamson, chairman of the Committee to Save the West Desert Preserve.

            The legislation, which has been approved by the Arizona House and is now under consideration in the Senate, would allow the state to offer for sale some 68,000 acres of state trust land in Pima County — 196,000 acres statewide — for preservation.  The bill must be approved by the Legislature before it would go before voters next year.

            Adamson said his group was encouraged that the bill is backed by the two representatives and a senator in District 30, which encompasses the greater Green Valley-Sahuarita area.  And the district's senator is not just another legislator — it's Tim Bee, a Tucson lawmaker and Senate president.  Ray Carroll, the county supervisor whose district includes Green Valley and Sahuarita, said the Board of Supervisors asked Bee to add the preserve to the bill because it is so strongly supported by area residents.

FULL STORY:   http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/180733