Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust

NEW: PVMPT Launches New Website

Visit the Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust’s new website at www.pvmpt.org to learn more about the Trust’s mission and view video testimonials of previous donors.

Agenda & Summaries

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Members
Chair Fred Pakis, Vice Chair John Graham, Steve Evans, George Getz,  Scott LeMarr, Joan Levinson, and Teresa Zachariah

Email Board Members
Comments will be sent directly to the Trust’s staff representative and forwarded to all Trustees. Note: your comments (including any contact information contained in the email) will be a public record subject to disclosure.

Staff Liaison Duncan Miller

Overview

The purpose of the Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust is to acquire, maintain, preserve and protect in perpetuity undeveloped real property and developed real property that can be returned to its natural state on and around the Mountain Preserve. The term "Mountain Preserve" identifies all property included on Mummy Mountain, Camelback Mountain, and Phoenix Mountain Preserve area within the Town’s boundaries. The current total Mountain Preserve land atop Mummy Mountain encompasses approximately 320 acres.

The goal of the Trust is preservation of the natural landscape, desert plants, wildlife and scenic beauty of the mountain areas of the Town of Paradise Valley.

The Trust qualifies as an organization exempt from federal and Arizona State income tax. The Trust operates for charitable purposes as defined in federal Code § 501 (c) (3).

Annual Update to Council

2018 Mummy Mountain Preserve Trust Update (PDF)

In the News

Paradise Valley Reinvigorates its Mountain Preservation Trust

Interested in Learning More or Donating?

Contact the Board of Trustees

Ownership

Mountain Trust Land owned or controlled by the Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust may not be conveyed, sold, traded, or otherwise alienated, leased, subleased, mortgaged, pledged, hypothecated, secured or collateralized, burdened, encumbered, vacated, abandoned, re-designated or partitioned in any manner, or deleted from the Mountain Preserve or from the Trust estate.

No access or use shall be permitted, licensed or otherwise authorized on any Mountain Trust Land except as may be required for police and public utility functions.

The Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust consists of seven (7) Trustees appointed by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Paradise Valley. Trustees serve for three-year staggered terms ending April 1 of each year. Trustees may be re-appointed for succeeding three-year terms.

History 

How Did Mummy Mountain Get its Name?

Charlie Mieg, a Swiss by birth, prospered in banking and real estate in New York city and later in Florida, before moving to Arizona in the 1930s. He prospected for gold and other minerals through the Bradshaw Mountains, and spent much time at the Bagdad mines. 

In the early 1940s he relocated to the area that later became Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. He was profoundly impressed by the beauty and serenity of what was then called Windy Gulch, a mountain in the midst of what would become the Town of Paradise Valley. He was so captivated by the area that he borrowed $8000 of the $12,000 purchase price from his mother-in-law, and acquired the Van Benscoten Ranch which included most of the property on and adjacent to Windy Gulch on the north and east sides.

Charlie was an experienced businessman. He recognized the value of property on his mountain; the views of the valley were exceptional. He discarded his miner’s gear and went back into the real estate business to sell parcels of land from his mountain property.

Charlie also was a good salesman. He recognized that a mountain named Windy Gulch did not have the desired marketing appeal. He began to reflect on another name to use in selling his properties.

One early morning he was riding along the dirt road which later would become Shea Boulevard admiring his mountain framed in the early morning sunlight. He was struck by how much the mountain resembled an Egyptian mummy lying down. It occurred to him that the name Mummy Mountain would be far more appealing than Windy Gulch. That morning he resolved henceforth his mountain would be called Mummy Mountain and he would market his land under that label.

Thereby a man born in Switzerland, and an early pioneer in Arizona, gave us the distinctive name we use to this day: Mummy Mountain. All thanks to Charlie Mieg, his marketing talent, and his early appreciation of a natural and unique geographic landmark in the Town of Paradise Valley.