The state of Arizona has filed suit against a developer accused of destroying historic sites considered the home of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The state attorney general says Scottsdale developer George Johnson and his companies cleared 2,000 acres of land, resulting in damage to sites dating from A.D. 750 to 1250. "It was a tremendous loss of history and culture to the state," Tohono O'odham Nation Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders told The Arizona Daily Star.

The state also says Johnson illegally bladed state and private land, killed more than 40,000 protected native plants and caused an epidemic that killed 21 rare desert bighorn sheep. The suit seeks financial penalties of up to $25,000 per day for some of the claims.

Get the Story:
State sues land developer in 'moonscaping' of desert (The Arizona Republic 2/15)
State suit says developer bladed protected plants, ancient ruins (The Arizona Daily Star 2/15)