Pristine Property in Arizona's White Mountains

The Environmental Protection Agency created an article and video describing how Jim Crosswhite, owner of the EC Bar Ranch which includes a three mile section of Nutrioso Creek, participated in the Arizona Department of Environmental Water Quality Improvement Program that resulted in the first instance in Arizona where water quality standards were met due to mitigation. Mr. Crosswhite donated a conservation easement to permanently protect water quality and aquatic wildlife habitat conditions on his property.

The EC Bar Ranch Conservation Easement protects 94 acres of restored riparian habitat along a three-mile stretch of Nutrioso Creek, an important perennial stream and tributary of the Little Colorado River. Nutrioso Creek and the surrounding riparian area provide significant habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife, including several state and federally threatened and endangered species. EC Bar Ranch Estates adjoins the conservation easement and Nutrioso Creek.

It’s taken Jim Crosswhite almost 15 years to make sure the three-mile section of Nutrioso Creek that runs through his EC Bar Ranch Estates subdivision meets the government’s standards for water quality and aquatic/ wildlife habitat. Now that he has achieved that goal through a lot of hard work, time and money, he is making sure the 94-acre riparian corridor will be preserved into perpetuity by donating the EC Bar Ranch Conservation Easement to the New Mexico Land Conservancy, which holds 31 easements in the Southwestern United States.

EC Bar Ranch Estates is a 206 acre rural residential subdivision in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona located 15 miles south of Springerville and 2 miles north of Nutrioso, on the historic Coronado Trail Scenic Byway (Highway 180/191), at an altitude of 7,600 feet. Over the next few years, 13 lots of two acres each will be offered for sale at competitive prices with owner financing available. Each lot has direct access to County maintained roads, nearby electric power, irrigation water rights, trees and bushes, and panoramic mountain views. Lots have special appeal as horse property and for retirement homes.