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PHOENIX – Your opinion matters when it comes to trail use in Arizona! Arizona State Parks and Trails has released a draft 2020 Trails Plan for public comment after a year of gathering data about the thousands of miles of motorized and non-motorized trails in the state.
The plan includes data-informed recommendations and action items to protect and enhance trails throughout Arizona, including those in local city, county and state parks as well as those on National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands. Arizona State Parks and Trails is required to prepare a report about Arizona's motorized and non-motorized trails and their users every five years; the last plan was completed in 2015. You can view and comment on the draft 2020 Trails Plan here or by visiting AZStateParks.com/Publications. Comments can be emailed directly to TrailsPlan@azstateparks.gov. Feedback will be accepted through March 30, 2020.
Starting in 2019, Arizona State Parks and Trails worked with Partners in Brainstorm (PIB) to conduct a random sample survey of Arizona residents. The agency also offered a public online version of the survey, available to anyone that wanted to participate. Managers of motorized and non-motorized trails also completed a survey. More than 9,000 survey responses were collected, guiding the Plan’s development with input about motorized or non-motorized trails, how often and how they are used, trails preferences and how land managers could improve trail experiences through their time, money and efforts. Respondents were contacted by phone (cell and landline) and email and offered the choice to complete the survey in English or Spanish.
The Trails Plan provides information about trail users, their preferences, opinions and important issues facing recreational trails and off-highway vehicle routes in Arizona. The plan also offers a list of recommendations and priority actions that both trail users and land managers can implement to protect and improve Arizona's motorized and non-motorized trails. Non-motorized trail uses includes hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding; the most common motorized pursuits are quad or all-terrain vehicle driving, four-wheel driving and dirt biking.
The priority recommendations listed in the plan will be used to develop grant rating criteria and distribute monies from the Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Fund and the federal Recreational Trails Program. The draft plan with public comments incorporated will be routed through the Arizona State Committee on Trails (ASCOT), Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Group (OHVAG), Arizona Outdoor Recreation Coordinating Commission (AORCC) and the Arizona State Parks Board before June 30, 2020.
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