Pima County to Acquire Historic Kelly Ranch

The Pima County Board of Supervisors has voted 4-1 to acquire 109 acres of historic ranch property adjacent to Catalina State Park. The county intends to conserve the ranch and eventually deed it to the state park.

The county has long sought to protect Kelly Ranch from development dating back to the county’s involvement in the multiagency effort to acquire Romero Ranch and turn it into Catalina State Park in the 1970s.

The 1940s-era ranch house, designed by famed Tucson architect Josiah Joesler, sits just east of Oracle Road atop a small, mesquite-tree-covered bluff that drops off steeply to the Canada del Oro Wash to the east. Catalina State Park’s boundaries straddle the ranch on three sides, with only the western side facing Oracle Road not connected to the park.

“County voters in 2004 affirmatively stated they wanted Kelly Ranch preserved and the county never gave up trying to deliver on that desire,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Rex Scott. Kelly Ranch is in Scott’s district. “The county has prioritized protecting our sensitive desert ecosystems and cultural heritage sites since the 1930s with the creation of Tucson Mountain Park, and continuing over the decades including facilitating the creation of Catalina State Park in the 1970s, and establishing the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan in the 2000s. The Kelly Ranch acquisition continues our legacy of environmental preservation and stewardship.”

Like the adjacent park, Kelly Ranch contains evidence of ancient indigenous inhabitation dating back before the Hohokam and has similar ecology. With its nearness to the Ann Day Memorial Wildlife Bridge over Oracle Road, the CDO Wash, the park and the Catalina Mountains, the ranch is a veritable desert wildlife highway for deer, javelina, coyotes, bobcats, and the occasional mountain lion.

The owner of Kelly Ranch has sought to develop it over the years, but strong public reaction rebuffed those efforts in the county and in the town of Oro Valley. The county wanted to acquire the ranch as part of the 2004 bonds supporting the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan but was unable to come to terms with the owner until now. With the bond funds no longer available, the county is using several land conservation funding sources to meet the $6 million purchase price, and also is seeking private donations.

Oro Valley has also searched for ways to preserve the property and town officials supported the county’s effort to acquire the property for the park.

“Oro Valley is proud to serve as the gateway to Catalina State Park,” said Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield. “And I am honored to represent a community that places high value on the preservation of outdoor public spaces. Pima County’s purchase and donation of this additional acreage ensures the preservation of open space, and the expansion of a beloved state park.”

Once acquired, the county will develop an agreement with Arizona State Parks Department to begin the process for cooperative management and its eventual absorption into the state park.

In a letter supporting the county’s purchase, Catalina State Park Manager Steven Haas said the ranch could serve any number of uses including camping and picnic spaces, office or ranger residence, an equestrian center, birding, wildlife viewing, and an area for solitude and reflection.

Members of the public who want to financially support the acquisition of Kelly Ranch can make donations to the Pima County Parklands Foundation, a nonprofit that supports county parks and park amenities. Pima County is also applying for a grant from State Parks to fund a portion of the purchase price and is seeking public input on the acquisition for the grant application.