Arizona mapping error nearly fixed

Coconino County Supervisor Matt Ryan urged a House committee Friday to grant "much-needed relief" to county residents who recently learned that their homes were built on federal land because of a 50-year-old surveying error. A 2007 U.S. Bureau of Land Management survey found that a 1960 private survey erroneously marked some federal land near Coconino National Forest as private property. Those 2.67 acres of land would become part of the Mountainaire Subdivision, where 27 people bought what they thought was private property and where some now live. Some residents said they have had multiple property surveys over the years and it came as "a shock" when they learned that their homes had always been on federal land. Under a bill considered Friday by the House Natural Resources Committee, the 27 property owners would be able to buy the land from the Forest Service for $20,000. "We believe this is a small price to pay to grant these homeowners the peace of mind of knowing the property they live on is their own," Ryan said. A Forest Service official testified that the agency supports the intent of the bill, but would first like to see an appraisal of the property done and see the homeowners pay the appraised value...more