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Report: More Than One Million Acres of AZ State Land Inaccessible

Arizona State Land Department

Public land advocates say Arizona has the third highest total of state trust land that is inaccessible because it is surrounded by private property.

A report from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Montana-based land data company onX, found 1.31 million acres of state-owned parcels that lack permanent public access.

Surrounding landowners sometimes offer access to landlocked parcels through cooperative programs with state wildlife agencies.

But Joel Webster with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership says there's no guarantee those programs will continue.

The report found 6.35 million acres of state parcels across eleven states that are surrounded by private land.

Last year, the two organizations partnered on a report that found 243,000 acres of federal land in Arizona holds similar accessibility issues.

That report noted a national total of 9.52 million acres of inaccessible federal land in 13 states.
 

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