[Source: Erica Meltzer, Daily Star] -- Pima County will use the last $5.9 million in 1997 open-space bonds to pursue the purchase of land on the Northwest Side and on Tumamoc Hill (pictured). The biggest portion — $4.3 million — is designated for three parcels totaling 64 acres near the Tortolita Mountains. Conservationists have long complained that the county had passed on ecologically sensitive but expensive land on the Northwest Side in favor of cheaper, less threatened land on the outskirts of the metropolitan area. Further complicating the issue, the Northwest parcels identified in the 1997 bond issue were state trust land. The state abandoned the Arizona Preserve Initiative — a plan to protect some state trust land — due to concerns about its constitutionality, and two ballot measures aiming to change state trust land rules failed in November 2006. The parcels now targeted for purchase all are privately held and can be bought if the county and the owner can agree on a price.The parcels — one 40 acres, one 20 acres and a 4-acre parcel connecting the two — are located partly in Marana and partly in unincorporated Pima County, south of Camino de Mañana and west of Camino de Oeste, next to already-conserved land. Carolyn Campbell, executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, supports adding the parcels under the bond issue. "If something big comes up like this, it can really add value, especially if it's adjacent to other conserved land," she said. Earlier this year, Campbell and others urged the county Board of Supervisors to buy four small parcels on the Northwest Side, the largest of which was just 13 acres. The county bought two of the parcels — its first purchases on the Northwest Side using 2004 bond money. The remaining open-space money will be used to pursue more of the Los Morteros archaeological site, near Silverbell Road and Linda Vista Boulevard, and to protect 350 acres on Tumamoc Hill, west of Tucson. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
