Town of Superior looking to buy hundreds of acres of Tonto National Forest land

SUPERIOR, AZ (AZFamily) — The Town of Superior is in the works to buy 546 acres of Tonto National Forest land for about $2 million.

“For a small town to navigate federal policy, it’s not always easy,” Superior Mayor Mila Besich said.

The town has a unique problem when it comes to expanding.

Aside from a few mining operations, the town is almost entirely surrounded by the Tonto National Forest, which effectively makes it landlocked by federal land.

“This has been a challenge for us throughout our history,” Besich said. “It took a long time to get to this to have any land to develop for our community.”

The land in question would allow the town to expand about 1 mile west and 1 mile to the south.

While their plans for this new area are not set in stone, Mayor Besich said they want to focus on affordable housing and businesses.

They will also be able to expand their airport.

For those worrying about this sale impacting any trails, the mayor stressed that any popular hot spots for hikers should not be impacted.

“This is not land that has been traditionally used for recreation,” Besich said.

The Bureau of Land Management, which is overseeing the land withdrawal from the Tonto National Forest, said this deal is only possible due to a 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that allows specific federal land to be sold, where it mentions both the Tonto National Forest and the town of Superior.

“The 2015 act directed the Forest Service to sell this to the town of Superior upon request,” said Chris Wonderly, a Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist.

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