The land, focused by the San Pedro River area, was given the highest funding priority in the Forest Legacy Program in the 2010 federal budget.

Arizona will receive a $900,000 federal grant to help the Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation group, purchase conservation easements on five parcels of land located outside of Cascabel in Cochise County.

The conservation easements, meant to prevent vacant plots of land from being developed for commercial and residential use, require an agreement with a private landowner. Through the agreement the landowner agrees to limit the amount of development on their land in order to conserve wildlife habitats. In return, landowners will receive payment for the development rights they will give up.

All five landowners, who have agreed to deals with the Nature Conservancy, view their properties as key wildlife habitats and want to see their land protected, said Tom Collazo, associate state director for conservation at the Nature Conservancy.

"They wanted to do their part leaving a legacy for the future," he said.

The landowners will be compensated for the development rights they are ceding to conservation efforts, based on appraisals conducted by the state and the U.S. Forest Service. The appraisals will consider market value, said Al Hendricks of the forest management and conservation area of the Arizona State Land Department.

The 694 acres are part of the combined efforts of the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program, which supports conservation. Hendricks hopes the state will receive the grant money by the middle of summer so the agreements can be finalized by fall.

The land is just part of the Nature Conservancy's 30-year effort. The organization has partnered with the Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Game and Fish, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan to preserve and protect 65,000 acres of the San Pedro River.

A study conducted by the Arizona Forest Legacy Program indicates that 90 percent of riparian forest — forestland along river banks - has been lost. It also found that 90 percent of Arizona's wildlife depends on riparian forest at some point during their life, which makes the remaining land critically important.

"Conserving these lands will prevent fragmentation of the riparian forest and the wildlife habitat, which provide a migratory corridor for nearly half of all bird species in the United States including the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher," Hendricks said.

Hendricks hopes the plan will restore a more natural ecosystem the San Pedro River corridor, and will protect the water supply by limiting development-based consumption.

Nathan Sayre, a local landowner, plans to participate in the program.

"The people of this community want to see the San Pedro Valley protected both for its incredible natural diversity and as a unique place to live," he said, in a Nature Conservancy press release. "We've wanted to protect this land for more than a decade. I'm thrilled that this program will make it a reality."