TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Could Sabino Canyon be for sale? Some of the people who love that location are afraid that it could be. Senate budget negotiations have some people worried about the fate of the popular location.
Sabino Canyon is deep in the hearts of a lot of people in our community. It’s Federal land, managed by the Forest Service, for the benefit of our country. But could this land end up sold to the highest bidder? Part of the new budget bill says, maybe.
“This place is wonderful. It's almost like the Wizard of Oz. And to hear that there was any hint of it being split up, chopped up or sold, just offended this whole town.”
Scott Bultman says he comes to Sabino Canyon almost every day. He’s been seeing the buzz on line that the budget bill could put a for sale sign on places like Sabino Canyon, and Madera Canyon
The idea of selling Sabino Canyon appears to come from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The bill it created as part of the Senate budget reconciliation talks about selling off half a percent to three-quarters of a percent of National Forest System Land. The Forest Service controls so much land, that’s a lot of real estate.
The land that could be sold is supposed to be for affordable housing.
Sabino and Madera Canyons are not named in the bill, in fact, no locations are named, but 60 days after the bill passes the Secretary of Agriculture is supposed to publish a list of land for disposal. It does not call for all properties to appear in that first list. New lists are to appear at 60 day intervals.
State Governors, local governments, and tribal governments are to be consulted on the properties to be selected. The bill does not say whether sales will stop if they object.
Governments that want to buy the land will have right of first refusal but still under the standard of suitability for residential housing.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego wrote on X that he’s been pushing for more affordable housing but this budget bill is the wrong way to do it. Talking about Republicans he says, “Now they are burying language to sell off public lands in their reckless budget bill—arbitrarily mandating how much land should be sold and leaving out any protections to ensure the housing built on that land would be affordable.”
Scott Bultman says Sabino might be protected by how hard it would be to build around its natural beauty—or it might not.
He says, “The element of the canyon walls and the tightness and that would make it difficult. But we've learned locally, they'll just put a house on top. They don't even care. We've seen that in California also.”
The budget bill is not a done deal. Senators and House members will have to work out their differences in a final bill for the President to sign.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
