The Superstition Area Land Trust (SALT) is dedicated to preserving the pristine Sonoran Desert foothills, rich in native habitats, wildlife, and watersheds. This land is a small but significant portion of the over 9 million acres managed by the Arizona State Land Department. The Department’s mandate is to use state trust land ‘for the sole purpose of generating revenues’ for beneficiaries, including Arizona K-12 education. However, as urban sprawl extends eastward from the Phoenix suburbs, developers are increasingly eyeing state trust land for purchase. Recognizing the vulnerability of these boundary state trust lands, SALT began collaborating with local, county, state, and federal entities to conserve the land as natural open space.

SALT was formed to work for conservation of the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) lands south of the Superstition Wilderness Area (SWA) (the Superstition Foothills [SF]) - which are threatened by development. This would create a buffer zone between the SWA and development, thus lessening the impacts of development, protecting ecosystems, and providing recreation opportunities and economic benefits. SALT must raise substantial funds to buy the most sensitive open spaces of this treasure trove of our vanishing Sonoran Desert for this and future generations.