Land ownership, including the percentage of ownership in each category, is shown for the Duncan Valley Basin in Figure 3.7-2.   Principal features of land ownership in this basin are the two contiguous sections of State Trust Lands and a significant amount of Bureau of Land Management lands. A description of land ownership data sources and methods is found in Volume 1, Appendix A.  More detailed information on protected areas is found in Section 3.0.4. Land ownership categories are discussed below in the order from largest to smallest percentage in the basin.

State Trust

• 44.5% of land in this basin is held in trust for public schools and to a lesser extent the University of Arizona and the hospital for disabled miners.
• State land ownership in this basin consists of two largely contiguous parcels, north and south of Duncan.
• Primary land use is grazing.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

• 37.8% of land is federally owned and managed by the Safford Office of the BLM.

• There are two protected areas in the basin; the Gila Box National Conservation Area in the northwest corner of the basin and the Peloncillo Mountains Wilderness area in T12S, R32E. (See Figure 3.0-12)

• Primary land uses are grazing and recreation.

Private

• 11.9% of land ownership is private.
• The majority of private land in this basin is around the town of Duncan and along State Highway 75.
• There are a few private land in-holdings within BLM and national forest lands.
• Primary land uses are domestic, commercial and ranching.

National Forest

• 5.8% of land is federally owned and managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS). 
• All national forest land in this basin is in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Clifton Ranger District.
• Primary land uses are timber production and recreation.

Click for Figure 3.7-2 Duncan Valley Basin

Land Ownership

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