Letter to the Editor: Do you know why the Red Rock Ranger District can’t make land trades? Well, here’s the story. Twelve years ago, the folks in this town decided they’d had enough with parcel after parcel of their pristine forest vanishing, morphing into paved streets and rooftops overnight. The final straw was La Barranca in the Village of Oak Creek…gone to luxury homes for a lucky few…after a raging battle to save it.
Well, good citizens from the whole Sedona area got together with their friend, Ranger Ken Anderson, and they rolled up their sleeves and wrote out some rules to follow that basically said, “We’re not trading off any more of our beautiful red rock lands!” Yep, that’s what created our Amendment 12 of the National Forest Plan. It is official and it’s special, remarkably special! But Ranger Anderson suggested an even better way to protect and preserve our forests PERMANENTLY. He knew that Amendment 12 COULD be overturned.
But, the best way would take an Act of Congress! Again, people of ALL parties and persuasions stepped up, and there was no stopping them. THOUSANDS of petition names were gathered and letters written. SEVERAL City Councils, County Boards of Supervisors and the Big Park Regional Coordinating Council ALL approved a more permanent scenic designation for the lands surrounding Sedona, called the Sedona-Red Rock National Scenic Area (NSA).
The people KNEW, “Our beauty is just plain good for business, and actually IS our business, it’s good for jobs and its good for our property values and it’s good for our quality of life and the character of our town!”
Now, our new Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, elected for her many promises, has FINALLY publicly announced that, she will indeed, introduce the NSA legislation to Congress! Hurray!!! BUT NOT SO FAST! It seems that just as we’re actually coming down to the wire, the proposed National Scenic Area is being seriously challenged. But why, and who ARE these people?
Well, of course it’s the usual suspects, those who could very happily profit from a thousand schemes for our red rock forests. And, huge pressure for development in Arizona and the west remains, in spite of our little economic hiatus. Don’t think for a minute that those folks aren’t working behind the scenes! They always do. And Ann Kirkpatrick is feeling it. So, what must be done??? We KNOW the answer; we’ve done it before. We must stand up one more time to save our remarkable quality of life, PERMANENTLY!
So, get the facts, not inaccuracies, and find out what you can do to help. For updates, go to keepsedonabeautiful.org/nsacoalition.html. Attend the big Support the NSA Event on February 17th (at the Hilton Sedona Resort and Spa in the Village of Oak Creek), but if you miss it, you can still do your part: Just pick up that phone and call the office of Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick at 202-225-2315.
Tell her that you believe that the NSA really is the smartest way to protect Sedona’s forests and economic well-being…for future generations.
