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Sweat pours over land swap<br>

That’s the outlook if the 109th Congress, set to begin in early January, doesn’t move quickly enough to reintroduce and pass the Yavapai Land Exchange bill.

The bill facilitates the exchange of those pristine forestlands, held privately by Yavapai Ranch owner Fred Ruskin and his family, for public lands the U.S. Forest Service doesn’t want to manage anymore, many of which surround Williams, Flagstaff, and Camp Verde.

The Ruskins’ initial plan was to sell some of those acquired parcels to the nearby municipalities and develop others.

A press release from U.S. Senator John McCain’s office hailing the Dec. 8 passage of the amended Senate version of the bill was issued on Dec. 9.

It was learned shortly after, though, that U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, halted movement of the bill through the House of Representatives because it was attached as a package to a California wilderness bill, which he opposed.

According to U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, Pombo was willing to move the land exchange had it been alone, but it still would have had to wait until next year.

“It came over to the House,” Renzi said. “Both of them were attached to each other with some other minor pieces of legislation and by that time, the House was already gaveled out of session. Even if it hadn’t been, Chairman Pombo wouldn’t have taken it up, given the California bill and the poison effect it had on the Yavapai Land Exchange.”

As reported in previous News issues, if the exchange legislation failed, Ruskin would sell his privately held lands to developers.

“Although legislation has now passed in two slightly different forms through both Houses of Congress, with a new Congress convening in January, legislative action is not certain. Thus, it is best for my family to concentrate our efforts on other alternatives for the ranch’s future,” Ruskin said in a prepared statement.

With the recent news, that process has now begun and the Ruskin family is in the process of test drilling for future-development well sites, but Renzi said he hopes Ruskin can continue to be patient.

Camp Verde Town Councilman Tony Gioia meanwhile, who went against the rest of the town’s administration and spearheaded Citizens for Public Review — the opposition group credited with successfully delaying the bill — says he’s happy about the stoppage.

“The Camp Verde parcel is still in here and I feel it’s an injustice to the American public,” Gioia said.

However, there may still be a light at the end of the tunnel for the cities of Williams, Flagstaff, and the rest of Camp Verde, who all want the exchange to go through so that they can acquire what would be Ruskin’s new parcels for their own economic development.

Williams City Manager Dennis Wells, who spoke to Ruskin last week, said that the ranch owner indicated he was willing to give it one more chance if he sees real movement of the bill early on in 2005. In the meantime, he said, Ruskin has no choice but to start developing his own lands for the benefit of his family’s trust.

“He has simply spent too much time, effort, and money attempting to do the right thing on this exchange and now he’s financially being forced to move ahead on another path,” Wells said.

Renzi says that Pombo has promised marking the bill for passage in January as a stand-alone piece and even though it will still have to be passed through the Senate again, is hopeful the bill could pass within the first 90 days of the 109th Congress.

“It would be a little hypocritical for them to pass language that has already been passed by the Senate and hold it up again,” Renzi explained.

So now the race is on to see which will happen first — the passing of the bill or the coming of the bulldozers.

Renzi is asking for the support of all the communities involved and that the public speak up.

If the land exchange does eventually happen, Wells says Williams’ first priority will be to acquire the parcels necessary to drill for new well water along the Mesa Butte fault line.


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