SAFFORD — As part of the budget reconciliation bill, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has inserted language that, if signed into law, could force the sale of public land in Graham County.
Under the proposed language, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management would be required to sell off between one-half of 1 percent to three-quarters of 1 percent of the land each manages.
That equates to 2.1 million acres up to 3.2 million acres, primarily in the West. The language does not specify which parcels are to be made available for private development.
Exempt would be National Parks and most National Monuments.
In a statement to Gila Valley Central, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said, “Congressman Ciscomani does not support selling Sabino Canyon, Mount Lemmon or Mount Graham. He was fully supportive of efforts to strip public land sale provisions from the House version of the reconciliation bill prior to its passage. While he is aware of the recent reports about public land sales provisions in the Senate reconciliation package, the bill is still being negotiated and has not been finalized. The Senate proposal creates a consultation process with the state government and Indian Tribes. The Congressman continues to closely monitor the bill and will carefully consider any changes made by the Senate to public land provisions in the reconciliation bill.”
– Contributed Graphic/Wilderness Maps
The Forest Service manages the Coronado National Forest across Cochise, Graham, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties, which includes the Pinaleno — which includes Mount Graham — Galiuro and Santa Teresa mountains in Graham County.
Meanwhile, the Safford Field Office of the BLM oversees the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area and Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area as part of its 1.4 million acres of responsibility across Arizona and New Mexico.
