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Land swap awaits Bush signature
Exchange will benefit Williams in future years

This land is located on the Yavapai Ranch ‹ approximately 20 miles south of Seligman. Ownership of the Yavapai Ranch land is currently checkerboarded between ranch owners and the Forest Service, but that will soon change with the passage of the land exchange.

This land is located on the Yavapai Ranch ‹ approximately 20 miles south of Seligman. Ownership of the Yavapai Ranch land is currently checkerboarded between ranch owners and the Forest Service, but that will soon change with the passage of the land exchange.

City leaders of Williams and other northern Arizona communities have been wearing smiles ever since the news of the passage of the Yavapai Land Exchange ‹ also known as S.161, or the Northern Arizona Land Exchange and Verde River Basin Partnership Act of 2005 ‹ through congress on Nov. 15.

The exchange represents the largest such swap in Arizona history and stands to benefit Williams in a number of ways. The city will have access to new land for well sites, commercial expansion of the airport, expansion and improvements on the city's water and wastewater treatment plants, commercial and residential development and more.

Some, such as Williams City Councilman John Moore are realizing the future benefits as well as the immediate ones.

"I think the Yavapai Land Exchange is something that's going to be helping the city of Williams 100 years from now," said Moore. "I think it's going to ensure our kids and grandkids some areas they otherwise wouldn't have had."

Located about 20 miles south of Seligman, the Yavapai Ranch covers nearly 200 square miles, contains the largest stand of privately owned Ponderosa Pine in Arizona, and is completely checkerboarded between the ranch owners and the Forest Service. A good deal of owner Fred Ruskin and family's checkerboard parcels are situated in what officials call "pristine" forestlands. Some even contains Native American pictographs and ruins.

In an effort to consolidate the checkerboard, Ruskin will be swapping 35,000 acres of his ranch parcels with the Forest Service in exchange for approximately 15,000 acres of the checkerboarded Forest Service parcels within the ranch. Ruskin says his ranch parcels are more valuable than the ones the Forest Service will be giving him. To make up the difference, the Forest Service may also be conveying about 5,000 acres of parcels in and around northern Arizona communities plus parcels adjacent to several youth camps it no longer wants.

Once the bill is signed into law, one of the first steps will be an appraisal of all the proposed parcels, both in and outside the ranch. The language of the exchange stipulates that the whole swap must be value-for-value, so in the end, the actual numbers may vary.

"Depending on the appraisal process, we (Williams) could be looking at anywhere from 250-400 acres," said Williams City Manager Dennis Wells.

Right now, Ruskin is expecting to receive about 900 acres in the Williams area, about half of which he says he plans to sell to the city at appraised value, plus 15 percent. The other half he will keep for development or sale on his own. The same applies to the 1,500 acres expected in Flagstaff, and Ruskin has stated in the past that he has development plans for the acreage in Camp Verde, which could be between 1,800-2,400.

Ruskin is delighted to have the bill pass, especially since it has been in the works for so many years.

"They have been discussing trades with the Forest Service longer than I've been alive ‹ my father and his predecessors," Ruskin said. "We got started in earnest maybe 10 years ago."

A bill on the exchange had been in congress for many years, but had seen no real movement until about three and a half years ago when Arizona District 1 Congressman Rick Renzi was still a candidate. Renzi credits being made aware of the idea by Williams' city leaders.

"The original group that got me involved was Mayor Edes and your city manager (Wells)," Renzi explained. "When I was running for congress Š Mayor Edes approached me about this thing called the Yavapai Land Exchange ‹ I'd never heard of it before ‹ and how it would help solve Williams' water issue."

Renzi says he made a pledge then that if he were elected, he'd try to get it pushed through.

Meanwhile in 2003, Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl introduced a version of the bill. A few months later, Representatives Renzi and J.D. Hayworth introduced their version.

Problems, however, arose almost immediately. Detractors were concerned with the bill being pushed through using the administrative process, rather than the typical NEPA and full public processes.

Renzi, however, was quick to point out that over the years, both he and McCain held numerous town hall meetings and well over 150 public input sessions had been held on the proposal. The main reason the administrative process was used ‹ according to Wells, Edes, Renzi, and other proponents ‹ was that there are so many moving parts to the trade, it would probably never happen. At the same time, Ruskin's clock was ticking fast.

At many points when the bill hit a bump in the congressional road ‹ and there were many ‹ Ruskin made reference to simply turning away and selling the valuable parcels for development.

Water was another big issue of contention. The bill almost died completely when a small but loud group out of Camp Verde voiced concerns over unregulated water usage on their parcel if it were to be developed.

McCain, however, was able to revive the exchange by adding Title II to the bill, creating the Verde River Basin Partnership ‹ a stakeholder board that would govern water usage in the area.

"I was, in the end, happy to see that the federal government will not have control of the water commission," Renzi said. "The federal government will only have a seat at the table and not a controlling interest. I like water decisions to remain local."

As for the acreage in Williams that Ruskin plans to keep, he said he would like to do some type of either commercial or residential development, but will make sure it's in line with the city's general plan.

"It may have been more controversial in the Verde Valley, but Williams and Flagstaff have been steadfast in their support of this and that's a major reason why it passed," Ruskin said. "I look forward to being a part of the Williams community, hopefully for years to come ‹ owning land there and such ‹ and working with the city to get them the things they need for their future."


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