"Saguaro cactus grow on a hill above a housing development in the foothills of South Mountain Park in south Phoenix on July 18, 1999. Attempts at saving the desert while accommodating growth have been timid, mostly in the name of private property rights. The result is that the very same desert that is promoted to tourists and newcomers is being destroyed by developers who build on the fringes, where the Sonoran Desert is, while largely ignoring the core of the Phoenix metropolitan area where large pieces of vacant land beg for development. (AP Photo/Mike Fiala)"  http://accuweather.ap.org