On Feb. 12, the U.S. Senate passed the Natural Resources Management Act, a sweeping 662-page bill affecting federal lands all over the country, including four new national monuments.
The bill passed with bipartisan near-unanimity, with only eight senators voting no, and both Arizona senators voting yes.
Among the many provisions of the bill, there are five pages devoted to what was originally introduced in Congress as the Cottonwood Land Exchange Act. The bill proposed swapping a patch of land in Cornville owned by the U.S. Forest Service for a parcel on the edge of Cottonwood on Mingus Avenue owned by Yavapai County.
For months, local officials, including Yavapai County District 2 Supervisor Tom Thurman and U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar [R-District 4], have sought to swap the USFS land, which abuts Windmill Park in Cornville, for the county land in Cottonwood, which features numerous specimens of cliff rose, an endangered plant that would be more easily managed by the Forest Service.
“As part of the Natural Resources Management Act, the Cottonwood Land Exchange Act will have a positive impact on our environment and Verde Valley communities for years to come,” U.S. Sen. Martha McSally [R-Ariz.] wrote in an email. “This bipartisan and locally-driven legislation transfers 80 acres of Forest Service land in the Coconino National Forest to the County in exchange for 369 acres of county land. By doing so, the Forest Service will be able to connect separated parcels already under its steward- ship and provide greater protections for the Arizona Cliff Rose. Yavapai County, on the other hand, will be able to expand Windmill County Park and improve its amenities to better serve the residents of Cottonwood and Cornville.”
“The public lands bill is a win for Arizona,” U.S. Sen. Krysten Sinema [D-Ariz.] wrote. “Our success today, after years of working with dedicated local leaders to get these policies across the finish line, will spur job creation in rural Arizona and protect our public lands for future generations of Arizonans.”
The House has not yet voted on the measure due to the mid-February recess, but is expected to do so after returning in the coming weeks. The far-reaching bill enjoys bipartisan support in the House and should pass smoothly; after that, it will be up to the president to sign it.
Under the provisions of the bill as passed by the Senate, costs for assessing both lands fall to the county and, if the USFS land is assessed as being worth more than the county land it is being swapped for, the county is required to pay the difference to the federal government.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or by email at jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
