By Tony Davis | Arizona Daily Star
Large sections of Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Mount Lemmon and Madera Canyon, and parts of Mount Graham, would be eligible for selling off as part of proposed Senate legislation that would authorize disposal of millions of acres across the West.
The bill, introduced last week, would require both the U.S. Interior secretary and the U.S. Agriculture secretary, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, to sell between .5% and .75% of their total land holdings.
The bill’s stated purpose is to open up some federal lands for housing to ease the nation’s chronic housing shortage. It would set criteria for offering land for sale based on its suitability for housing, its proximity to existing housing and whether it’s part of an isolated tract that would be inefficient to manage.
“There is a nationwide shortage of approximately 4 million homes and a shortage of 7 million affordable homes. This extreme lack of supply and affordability, coupled with excessive federal land ownership in the West constrains economic growth and the opportunity for western communities to thrive. Unlocking federal land for housing will develop millions of single-family homes, resulting in greater housing supply and making housing more affordable,” a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee fact sheet about the bill said.
