BLM announces protections for Tonto National Forest lands near Superior, Arizona

PHOENIX — The Bureau of Land Management is announcing protections for 276 acres of public lands in Tonto National Forest located entirely within corporate limits of the Town of Superior, including lands near the Superior Municipal Airport and Fairview Cemetery, as requested by the U.S. Forest Service. A Public Land Order formalizing the withdrawal will publish in tomorrow’s Federal Register. 

Congress directed the sale of the lands at fair market value in Section 3003 of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act to the Town of Superior in Pinal County. The protections announced today withdraw the lands from new mining claims, but not from leasing under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws, for a period of 20 years, subject to valid existing rights. 

For more information on the withdrawal, please contact Chris Wonderly at jwonderly@blm.gov or 602-818-8295.