Colorado City, Ariz. • The airport grounds in a small town along the Arizona-Utah border just got bigger.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently transferred about one-quarter of a square mile to Colorado City. The move allows the town to comply with Federal Aviation Administration standards for safety and design.
The public airport was built in the 1960s with dirt runways that were paved in 1991. The land that the federal government conveyed to the town, along with some private land, nearly doubled the size of the airport property.
“The land conveyance will have a substantial, positive impact for the airport, the community and the many visitors who fly into the area each year for business and to access nearby recreation areas like Water and Squirrel Canyons, and Grand Canyon and Zion National Park,” said Michael Herder, the Arizona Strip District manager for the Bureau of Land Management.
The town had sought control of the land, an action that was analyzed in an environmental review. About 10,000 people live in the region, including in the sister towns of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, at the foot of picturesque red rock cliffs.