When lovers of the Sonoran Desert talk about it, you can almost imagine grandchildren rolling their eyes as old-timers describe the way things used to be. How beautiful the desert was before it became a golf course. But words describing the land don't come close to the experience of being there. On the north slope of Little Granite Mountain in north Scottsdale, power lines disappear from view and the unique lushness of the upper Sonoran Desert becomes obvious. The orange from the wildflowers is blinding.
Stately saguaros stand amid spiny cholla and paloverde trees.
It is at once lovely and harsh. More important, it is an escape from the noise, concrete and urban sprawl surrounding it. The Valley has the desert. And everybody wants a piece of it. With development eating up open space at a rate of about an acre an hour, according to the most recent study by ASU's Morrison Institute for public policy, those who love it have become like animals marking their territory.