Most of this land lies amid the saguaro-ironwood forests of the Northwest Side, with some lying just north of Catalina State Park and scattered parcels lying elsewhere in the city of Tucson.

The governor agreed in the past month not to sell five other state-owned parcels totaling 5,005 acres in the Tucson area and about 42,000 acres statewide for development without consent of local governments.

The parcels she has agreed to save have all been classified as conservation land by the Arizona Land Department. They have never been permanently set aside as open space because of legal restrictions that make conservation of state land difficult to impossible.

If all the parcels Huckelberry wants to save are added to those the governor has already agreed not to sell, a total of 29,127 state-owned acres in Pima County would be protected from development at least until Napolitano’s final term ends in 2010.

Source: Arizona Daily Star