By Doug Ramsey, Public News Service - AZ

Arizona's private prisons are unneeded, unsafe and waste millions of taxpayer dollars, according to a new report from the Arizona branch of the American Friends Service Committee.

The report cites a new 2,000-bed private prison contained in Gov. Jan Brewer's budget as an example of the waste. King Downing, AFSC national healing justice goal analyst, says political pressure from huge private-prison corporations is creating a "prison-industrial complex" in states such as Arizona.

"In the military-industrial complex, over 50 percent of the budget is spent on military and not other items that we need in the government. In the prison-industrial complex, states are spending over half of their money on incarceration with a lot of it going toward these major corporations."

Typical state contracts with private prison operators require that inmate occupancy rates be kept above 97 percent. Carolyn Isaacs, AFSC's Arizona program director, says the cost of such policies was revealed following a 2010 breakout at a private prison in northwest Arizona, after which some inmates were temporarily removed.

By Doug Ramsey - Public News Service - AZ

Nearly four in five Arizona voters see no conflict between conserving the state's natural resources and promoting a strong economy, according to a new Colorado College poll of people in six Rocky Mountain states.

A majority of those surveyed disagree with the idea that cutting environmental regulations would lead to a major increase in jobs, according to pollster Dave Metz of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates.

"There was no state among our six where we had a majority agree with that statement. And in two states, Arizona and Colorado, they rejected that view by a two-to-one margin."

The poll also asked if, in light of its budget problems, Arizona still should find money to protect public lands, water, wildlife and state parks. Nearly 90 percent said yes. The "Conservation in the West" poll surveyed 2,400 registered voters in the six states.

By Doug Ramsey, Public News Service - AZ

Recreational target shooting would be prohibited on the Sonoran Desert National Monument, southwest of Phoenix, under the preferred alternative of a draft 20-year management plan drawn up by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The proposal has generated some controversy. On one side of the issue, The Wilderness Society has given the plan an award, partly because of the proposed shooting ban.

Thom Hulen, president of the group Friends of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, says shooters have hauled tons of junk into the monument to use for target practice.

"There are irresponsible shooters who bring trash out to shoot. And they would shoot at computer monitors and washing machines, occasionally old, beat-up cars, propane tanks and jars and stuff, full of gasoline."

Although hunting would still be permitted, the National Rifle Association calls the proposed recreational shooting ban an "overreaction" and suggests that only parts of the monument be closed. The NRA is backing legislation by Arizona's U.S. Representative Jeff Flake to require congressional approval for any national monument shooting ban of more than six months.

By Doug Ramsey, Public News Service - AZ

Endangered animals, outdoor recreation and the timber industry could peacefully coexist in Arizona's national forests under new management guidelines proposed by the Obama administration.

The first "forest planning rule" update in 30 years will require use of the best available science to resolve long-standing conflicts between loggers and environmentalists, according to Peter Nelson, director of Defenders of Wildlife's federal lands program.

"It values those forests for their water and watershed values, for their wildlife values, for their recreation value and also for the value that they provide to communities and the American people."

The new planning rule will apply to 155 national forests and grasslands in 42 states and Puerto Rico. The guidelines are expected to be finalized in about a month.

The new planning rule, Nelson says, will allow forest managers to focus on the recovery of damaged watersheds and endangered plant and animal species, while also providing for multiple uses which include recreation and logging. He's optimistic the approach will work.

By Doug Ramsey, Public News Service - AZ

A new report challenges the notion that the poorest Arizona families don't pay their fair share of taxes, one of the arguments for a flat state income tax.

Dana Naimark, president of the Children's Action Alliance, says its analysis shows Arizona's wealthiest 1 percent pay less than half the rate of low-income Arizonans in state and local taxes.

"They're paying $5.60 in taxes out of every $100 in income - $5.60. Now, you compare that to families earning less than $20,000 a year. They're paying $12.50 for every $100 in income."

At the same time, Naimark says, Arizona's tax code allows nearly three out of four corporations to pay the legal minimum of just $50 a year in taxes.

She says the report was inspired by a flat-tax proposal in the Legislature last year that would have cut taxes for the wealthiest 12 percent and raised taxes for everyone else.