A unique effort to create a sustainable recreation plan for the region surrounding the Prescott National Forest drew about 60 people to an early strategy meeting in Prescott Thursday afternoon.
The Prescott National Forest is one of only four of the country's 200 national forests that is helping to organize such a pilot program, said Francisco Valencuela, director of recreation, heritage and wilderness for the Forest Service's Southwestern Region. He traveled to Prescott from Albuquerque this week to observe how well the new collaborative process is working.
"It's really neat to see how much people care about the outdoors here," Valencuela said.
The Forest Service also hosted meetings in Chino Valley and Prescott Valley Wednesday and Thursday, with about 20-40 people attending each meeting, estimated Chino Valley District Ranger Linda Jackson.
Citizens talked about what they like to do in the forest and what they'd like to see happen in the future.
Trail etiquette was a common theme at the gatherings, Jackson said. So was resource protection. Citizens want to find ways to educate trail users about these issues.
Trail connectivity was another issue people brought up. They want trails connecting communities, such as more development of the Peavine Trail between Chino Valley and Prescott. They also want to separate motorized and non-motorized users where feasible.
Others talked about problems with losing access to the national forest because private landowners block off roads.
Similar meetings in the Verde Valley took place in December, and more will occur in southern Yavapai County communities in April.
The planning will occur in these three zones, with an opportunity for the public to provide comments via the Internet this spring. Officials hope to finish the plan this fall.
"There aren't many areas I work with that have this much diversity," said Tom Christensen, a Forest Service enterprise team member from Nashville who gave each audience a PowerPoint presentation about Yavapai County demographics and tourist trends.
He cited Prescott-area tourism studies that found the top activities for tourists here are visiting cultural/historic sites (57 percent), shopping (54 percent), museums (46 percent), and public lands (41 percent).
The top attractions are historic downtown Prescott (80 percent), the Prescott National Forest (52 percent), Sharlot Hall Museum in downtown Prescott (38 percent), Gateway Mall in Prescott (28 percent), and gambling casinos on the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Reservation (18 percent).
