Battle Rages Over Arizona State Trust Land

Two propositions, 105 and 106, are pitting teachers, environmentalists, homebuilders, ranchers, business leaders, politicians and lawyers against each other.

"The teachers, environmentalists and business leaders have embraced Proposition 106, which would set aside almost 700,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land, create a new public board to review State Land Department decisions and provide more planning resources for trust land."

"On the other side are homebuilders, cattle ranchers and school board officials, who are supporting Proposition 105, which would set aside about 40,000 acres (with as much as 400,000 acres down the line--if the Legislature approves of such conservation efforts), but otherwise preserve the status quo of current trust-land management. "