By Beth Duckett | The Republic | azcentral.com
Scottsdale was the successful bidder Tuesday on 2,365 acres of state trust land for its McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a state official said.
The $21.3 million land purchase from the Arizona State Land Department is partially funded by a state Growing Smarter grant of $8 million.
The mountainous property, which features boulders, washes and upper-Sonoran Desert plants, is generally east of 120th Street and west of 136th Street, north of Thunderbird Road and south of the Bell Road alignment in east-central Scottsdale.
The purchase bumps up the size of Scottsdale’s nature preserve to more than 30,000 acres.
