Some Sedona residents are fighting to protect the land surrounding the town where they live. They submitted a proposal to designate the area a national monument.

The proposal, which was submitted earlier this week, requests that 80,000 acres of the Red Rock Ranger District in the Coconino National Forest be federally protected from land trades, commercial development and resource exploitation.

Peggy Chaikin is with the Coalition for Permanent Protection of the National Forest in the Sedona Verde Valley Red Rock Area, which is seeking the designation.

"The area here is very valuable real estate wise," Chaikin said. "We see in the future that there will be a demand for this land to be taken and possibly privatized."

If a designation is granted, Chaikin said a management plan would be developed by stakeholders to protect and manage the area’s natural resources.