Scottsdale acquired 415 acres of land for its McDowell Sonoran Preserve at two state land auctions today. The city was the only bidder.
The city’s bids totaled $30.4 million. Funding will come from money generated by two dedicated sales taxes approved by Scottsdale voters in 1995 and 2004.
With today’s acquisitions, Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve encompasses more than 30,500 contiguous acres – nearly 47 square miles. That achieves 90 percent of the long-range goal to preserve about 34,000 acres, nearly a third of the city’s land area.
The preserve lands acquired today are predominately rolling topography with a diversity of boulder outcroppings. They feature lush upper Sonoran Desert vegetation and several washes home to extensive riparian plants and abundant wildlife.
The land includes the western edge of the Rawhide Wash corridor and a planned major trailhead near the intersection of Pima Road and Dynamite Boulevard. The proposed trailhead would provide access to planned and existing trails in the northwest region of the preserve.
The lands are generally located east of Pima Road, west of the 104th Street alignment, north of Dynamite Boulevard and south of the Westland Road alignment. They are within a “recommended study boundary” that includes all of the land targeted to be part of the preserve.