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Protecting Arizona’s Public Lands
By Sandy Bahr, Conservation Outreach Director If someone gave you a map of Arizona and told you to identify its treasures, you would likely include many of Arizona’s public lands. From Grand Canyon National Park to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, from the Blue Range Primitive Area to the Eagletail Wilderness, Arizona is blessed with about 30.5 million acres of federal public lands. They include a diversity of landscapes, plants, wildlife, geology, archaeology, and recreational opportunities. Our public lands encompass the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Mojave deserts; the woodlands of Ponderosa pine, piñon-juniper, and mixed conifer; grasslands and riparian areas. While we have a great deal of public land in Arizona, it does not mean it is “protected” or that it will remain “public.” A growing and increasingly urban population is placing new demands on our natural resources, especially those on our public lands. Many lands are threatened by urban development and proposed land exchanges to promote sprawl. Some public lands are severely grazed by livestock. Other lands, like the Forest Service lands near the proposed Carlota mine site just east of Superior, are threatened by mining activities. More and more of our urban public lands are threatened by off-road vehicle use and illegal dumping.
Please follow these links and explore our public lands.There are numerous threats that damage our public lands. Read about the plans the Grand Canyon Chapter has to better protect Arizona’s treasures. Whether it is wilderness, a wild and scenic river, old growth forests, or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands near your back yard, we hope you will join us in caring for these lands. Land Exchanges: Trading Conservation Colorado River: Turbulent or Tranquil Future in the Grand Canyon?
Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |
