Sedona

Now is the time to get involved in State Parks funding debate

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[Source: Camp Verde Bugle]

The last state budget debacle over funding for Arizona State Parks caught many unawares and tripping over their own feet to figure out what was going on. The state was already deep into the process of deciding cutbacks and closures before some support groups could organize.

That cannot be the case for the next budget battle – and it is already starting. The time to get involved is now.

Eleventh-hour brain-storming sessions and negotiations can lead to short-term solutions, as evidenced by last budget cycle’s results, but fixing funding problems for the foreseeable future demands more than that.

This time, instead of waiting until February or March or May, those concerned about the sustainability of the State Parks program need to jump in at the start.

The Verde Valley and Sedona have particular interest in this process because five Arizona State Parks are ensconced here. Current funding for three of them are a patchwork of local, county and state monies and volunteers, and that is only temporary.

Jerome has known the frustration of full closure, and Camp Verde and Sedona have felt the cost of keeping a park open. It has been a sweat-inducing exercise, but it has certainly left the communities with a feeling of ownership.

The way the state has provided funding for state parks and used money created by state parks has not been principled, but it has been allowed. It needs to change if parks are to have a future. A governor’s commission is pushing for more privatization of services currently provided by government, and some issues connected to state parks are being eyeballed in that regard.

After the breather afforded by intergovernmental agreements to keep parks open this year, municipalities are already looking again at their relationship to Arizona State Parks. And Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Sedona Library, several groups and elected officials will have a public discussion of proposals and possible solutions to the funding problems.

It is a dilemma that cannot wait again. If the state parks landscape is to be preserved, now is the time to get involved.

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Discussion on the Future of Arizona State Parks in Sedona on Sept 30th

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[Source: Sedona Times]

A public discussion on the Future of Arizona State Parks will be held on September 30, 2010 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Sedona Public Library located at 3250 White Bear Rd, West Sedona.

Excerpts from the documentary film  “Postcards from the Parks” which highlights the plight of the State Park system in the state’s current financial crisis will be shown, and a panel of experts and elected officials will discuss the future of AZ State Parks.

The theme of the evening is “Will/Can the State Park system survive and if so in what form?”

Speakers are:

Reese Woodling:     Chair of Arizona State Parks Board

Tom O’Halleran:       Former State Senator and State Representative and former Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee

Chip Davis:               Yavapai County Supervisor

Matt Ryan:                 Coconino County Supervisor

Rob Adams:              Mayor, City of Sedona

Bob Burnside:          Mayor, Camp Verde

Sandy Bahr:              Sierra Club Government Relations

The public is invited to attend and participate in the panel discussion.

Sponsored by Benefactors of Red Rock State Park, Democrats of the Red Rocks, Friends of Verde River Greenway, Keep Sedona Beautiful and the Sierra Club. Contact BIRGIT LOEWENSTEIN 928-282-0777 Chair, Benefactors of Red Rock State Park,  Email: roseb@esedona.net.

Summer’s almost over at Slide Rock State Park

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[Source: Bruce Colbert, Prescott Daily Courier]

Photo Credit: Bruce Colbert/The Daily Courier

With the intensity of an Olympic swimmer, little 6-year-old “Mya” adjusted her swimming goggles, stepped to the rock ledge, and catapulted herself into the air landing about 15 feet below in a cool pool of Oak Creek.

“Yeeeah,” she shouted after popping her head out of the water.

Welcome to a typical summer day at Slide Rock State Park, located about five miles north of Sedona.

“We’ve got people coming from all over the world,” said Ellen Bilbrey, Arizona State Parks Chief Public Information Officer.

Elaine and Graham Norris traveled from England to do some touring, and found themselves this past week marveling at the red rock spires surrounding Slide Rock Park.

“We were talking to someone and said we wanted to go see Sedona, and he said, ‘You’ve got to go to Slide Rock, it’s fantastic,'” Graham said in a clipped British accent. “So here we are and he was right.”

However, out of the more than 1,000 visitors per day on weekends (about half that on weekdays) most are local Arizonans who know all about the park and its famous creek. Oak Creek is fed by a spring about seven miles upstream, and with runoff from the surrounding mountains.

But the pastoral park is not just about the creek.

“There are hiking trails that people can continue on into the Coconino National Forest. There’s rock climbing, picnicking, volleyball, shaded ramadas, fishing, bird watching, photography, a gift shop, and you can have weddings here for an incredibly low price,” Bilbrey said. “It’s like a theme park, except it’s a natural theme park.”

Made to order for nature lovers, the park also caters to history buffs.

In 1907, Frank L. Pendley settled in Oak Creek Canyon, planted vegetables and apple and pear orchards on 43 acres of creek side land, and in 1910 took ownership through the Homestead Act.

Pendley’s son, Tom, continued managing the property until 1982 when the family decided to sell it. Gov. Bruce Babbit heard about the sale, bought the property through the Arizona Parklands Foundation, and state officials opened Slide Rock State Park in 1987.

Many of Pendley’s apple trees still produce fruit; his house and cabins still stand; some of his farm equipment still works; the apple sorter still sorts; and his hand-built irrigation system still irrigates.

“We’ve got 13 different species of apples and get phenomenal apples in the fall,” Bilbrey said. “During the fall Apple Festival, if we’ve got a crop, you can pick your own heritage apples.”

Although the park is open year-round, Bilbrey said that for some people, winter is the time to go.

“If you are a photographer, the fall and winter are absolutely gorgeous,” Bilbrey said. “And there are hardly any people then.”

If you go to the park for a summer swim, Bilbrey cautions parents that there are no lifeguards on duty, but park rangers patrol the slide area on a regular basis.

“All the rangers are first responders, and I’ve never heard of a drowning in at least 15 years,” she added.

It costs $20 per vehicle to visit the park. Park hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Labor Day weekend, and then rangers shorten the hours. To get to the park from Prescott, which is about 70 miles north, drive Highway 89A north, or I-17 north and exit at SR 179 to Sedona.

To learn more about the park and its amenities, Junior Ranger program, or how to become of Friend of the Park, visit azstateparks.com, or go to Facebook, Twitter or MySpace social networks.

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Sedona city staff finds home for previously spent Arizona Heritage Fund grant money

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[Source: Carl Jackson, Sedona.biz] – At last night’s City Council meeting, newly appointed City Manager Timothy Ernster explained to the council staff’s plan to redeploy a $586,000 Heritage Fund grant given to the City by the Arizona State Parks in 1995-96 to invest in the now defunct Sedona Cultural Park.  The center piece of the park was a 5,000 seat amphitheater named after St. Louis Rams owner and accomplished soprano, Georgia Frontiere, who helped launch it in May, 2000 with a $1 million donation.  A requirement of the grant was that the site be available to the general public for outdoor recreation use for a period of 25 years, and be subject to periodic on-site inspections.

After the park filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and the grant money was lost, the City faced a quandary: return the grant to the Arizona State Parks or find another qualifying public use.  In 2004, the City of Sedona commissioned a feasibility study for a Sedona Performing Arts and Conference Center that ranked the Sedona Cultural Park first in the evaluation, but the project never moved forward.