Heritage Fund

Cave Creek, Arizona makes plans for open spaces

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[Source: Beth Duckett, The Arizona Republic] — From the lush backwoods of Cave Creek Regional Park to the rugged Spur Cross Ranch, Cave Creek is known for its sweeping open spaces.  But with another 8.8 square miles coming inside the town’s borders through annexation this year, Cave Creek faces a dilemma – how to manage its open spaces.  With the plan, town and park officials would steer the use and management of thousands of acres with one document.  Future visitors centers and trail systems would be included in an open-space master plan.

“Planning as a system makes a whole lot more sense,” said Maricopa County Parks Director RJ Cardin.  “It would be a system of open space, rather than a piece of state land there, a piece there.”  The master plan would merge the 2,155-acre Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, 3,000-acre Cave Creek Regional Park and 4,300 acres of conserved annexation land, plus State Bureau of Land Management and conservation lands.  [Note: to read the full article click here.]

Take the Arizona Trail Users Survey

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This study is part of an effort to develop plans for the State Trails Program and the Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Program.  The survey is being conducted among parks and trails enthusiasts and organization representatives to ask for input into the trail planning process.  This list was developed by the Arizona State Parks Board and Arizona State University.

Your participation in this survey is very important.  Your answers will help set priorities for trail management in Arizona, and help determine how a portion of the Heritage Fund and the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Fund should be spent.  The Heritage Fund comes from Lottery revenues and the OHV Fund comes from gasoline tax dollars.  Some of these funds go directly to provide recreational trail opportunities and facilities for all Arizona residents and visitors.

The survey will take approximately 15 – 20 minutes to complete.  Your answers to this survey are completely confidential.  Your name will not be connected to your answers in any way.  Your participation in this survey is voluntary; however, you can help us very much by taking a few minutes to share your opinions.  To take the survey, click here.

Footbridge, garden envisioned for Lizard Run Park in Surprise, AZ

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[Source: Tony Lombardo, Arizona Republic] — Surprise City Council is asking city staff to better define a costly footbridge project in the Original Town Site before it signs off on the expenditure.  Lizard Run Park, two blocks south of Bell Road between Greasewood and Nash streets, is scheduled to receive a pedestrian footbridge and a community garden by June, according to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.  The footbridge would cross a wash and connect the park to nearby facilities for Rio Salado College and Interfaith Community Care.

The cost of the bridge has been estimated at $300,000 to $400,000.  The city has $283,000 budgeted.  City staff asked the council on Aug. 14 to transfer $81,000 to the Lizard Run project from a defunct alley-paving project in the Original Town Site.  However, council members voted 5-1 against the move, instead placing the money in the council contingency fund.  Members reasoned that there was not enough information about the project to make a smart decision.  They agreed that the money should be placed in their contingency fund, which the council can allocate as it sees fit.  [Note: to read the full article, click here.]

1904 Nogales courthouse symbolic site of entry to Anza Trail

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[Source: Manuel C. Coppola, NoglesInternational.com] — Albeit symbolic, the Juan Bautista de Anza Historic Trail now has an official entry point from Mexico in Nogales at the 1904 Courthouse on Morley Avenue.  To celebrate the designation of the trailhead, a “fiesta” is planned Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12, said Lillian Hoff, a founder and president of the Friends of the 1904 Courthouse board of directors.  The event will be highlighted by the first exhibition of 12 commissioned paintings depicting various scenes from the 1775-76 Anza Expedition, said Hoff.  She said that the courthouse will have an Anza Trail room commemorating the expedition and the trailhead into the United States.

Artist David Rickman, who has had an interest in the Spanish Colonial period, was commissioned by Anza Trail staff and has been creating the paintings over the last several years, said Margaret Styles, an interpretive specialist with the National Park Service in San Francisco, Calif.  Styles and Hoff will co-host the exhibition. [Note: to read the full article, click here.]