The Southeast Arizona Land Trust (SEALT) is protecting 75 acres of strategically located property within the unique oak grassland ecosystem of southeastern Arizona.

The property is 10 miles north of Sonoita, borders the Bureau of Land Management's Las Cienegas National Conservation Area and will be protected with a conservation easement.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal document that limits certain types of development for the purpose of conserving the aesthetic values of the landscape. Conservation easements are recorded with the property's deed and protect a property from subdivision and development in perpetuity.

The one-mile-long parcel will be an integral part of the Barchas family's High Haven Ranch, a working cattle ranch for more than 50 years. Sarah Barchas said this "will preserve intact, land of worth and merit for generations to come, maintaining historic ranch and open space traditions and heritage. It gladdens my heart to know that we have accomplished something so positive that will remain long after our finite lives."

Watershed

The property lies within a vulnerable watershed area for Empire Creek. The creek supports aquatic habitat for rare fish and is one of the few streams in Arizona that has no exotic fish present. The property also provides habitat connections for wildlife movement between Empire Creek and the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains.

The easement preserves what may be the best example of native grassland managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in Arizona. Protecting this land has important benefits for management of a much larger landscape

10-year effort

This conservation story began in 1996 with the vision of Cherie Campbell of the Pima Association of Governments, who then served as Regional Transportation Planner/Coordinator. In 1996, she wrote an application for federal transportation enhancement funds for State Routes 82 and 83, known as the Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road.

Ten years of work by numerous federal, state and local partners contributed to the protection of this property. Key SEALT partners include the Federal Highway Administration; Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), which supplied the funding for the easement; the Arizona State Transportation Board, the Pima Association of Governments, the Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road Advisory Committee, and The Nature Conservancy, which provided a short-term bridge loan, pending receipt of ADOT funds.

The easement was funded through an ADOT grant for $585,000. More than 95 percent of the funding was used for purchase of the easement. The transaction closed Aug.15, 2006. SEALT also holds a one-year option to purchase a scenic easement on the remaining 100 acres of the Barchas ranch.

SEALT is the leading southeastern Arizona organization helping working farms and ranches stay on the land through the donation or sale of conservation or scenic easements. In addition to Shel Clark and Fred McGee, SEALT board members include Jeff Becker, Ben Brophy, David Kendall, Julie Holding and Karen Riggs. For more information contact a the board at (520) 455-5592 or sealt@theriver.com.

(Editor's Note: McGee is a board member of SEALT.)