Tag Archives: Flagstaff

Public Input Meeting April 24 on Proposed Fort Tuthill Mountain Bike Skills Park

Posted on by

FLAGSTAFF –– Coconino County Parks and Recreation and the Flagstaff Biking Organization are planning a public meeting to gain community input on a proposed mountain bike park at Fort Tuthill County Park.

The park would be designed to provide riders a place to hone their skills and learn to jump, while enjoying themselves on mountain bikes.

A public meeting is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 at the County Board of Supervisors Chambers at 219 E. Cherry Ave. in Flagstaff. The meeting will allow officials to gather input from community members and bicyclists on their desire for specific features at the proposed bike park.

“We are enthusiastic to engage and involve the public and future users of the park, along with local community organizations to design and build the first bike skills park in Northern Arizona at Fort Tuthill,” said County Parks and Recreation Director Judy Weiss. “The vision to develop a mountain bike park is included in the Fort Tuthill County Park Master Plan, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors in January.”

The Flagstaff Biking Organization and International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Regional Representative are in the process of mobilizing funds and resources to build the mountain bike skills park at Fort Tuthill County Park.

“It’s great that this is formally underway,” said Anthony Quintile, trails program coordinator for the Flagstaff Biking Organization. “We are hoping that the community of cyclists in Flagstaff can come together to help generate the support we need to see this project through.”

Bomb found in Arizona Apache Sitgreaves National Forest

Posted on by

On the 16th, a portion of the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest was closed when forest service workers found a pipe bomb.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office says Forest Service workers found a metal pipe bomb near some trees while conducting a survey Monday along a forest road west of the community of Forest Lakes.

The forest area was closed for about six-hours to allow the Flagstaff Police Department bomb personnel to remove the device and search the area.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Lurkins says the pipe bomb was next to a tree and there apparently had been a failed attempt to detonate it. There is no indication how long the device was there.

ABC15
KGUN9

Gun shows coming to the area

Posted on by

FLAGSTAFF—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun shows are returning to Flagstaff and Williams this year. It is hard to say what affect any legislation will have on sales at the show. However, all federal, State and local firearms ordinances and law must be fully obeyed by the dealers and purchasers. Still you can look forward to two gun shows in Flagstaff and one in Williams.

The Flagstaff gun shows will be held at the Coconino County Fairgrounds on May 18 and 19, and again on September 21st and 22nd. All dates are Saturday and Sunday respectively. On Saturday the shows open at 9 am and run until 5 pm. On Sunday the show closes at 4 pm. The entrance fee to the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. If you find a flier, it usually has a $2 off coupon. Parking is free. The Coconino County Fairgrounds are at 2446 Fort Tuthill Loop in Flagstaff.

The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms show in Williams will be held at the Bob Dean Rodeo Grounds barn on Father’s Day weekend Saturday and Sunday June 15th and 16th. The rodeo grounds are at 800 Rodeo Road in Williams. The times and prices for the show are the same as above.

Don’t forget to look up the Arizona Citizens Defense League booth at the gun shows.

Zip Line ride proposed for Williams

Posted on by

WILLIAMS—At the City Council meeting March 28th, Mike Brown of Western Destinations proposed the instillation of a ride called Zip Line perhaps in the area of Cureton Park. The proposed cost of rides would be approximately $39 with a re-ride costing half of that. Williams residents would get a discounted price.

The ride, Mr. Brown indicated, could provide as many as forty jobs in Williams. Local residents would be trained to conduct the ride safely and the ride would be insured for $5 million.

Councilman Don Dent considered what affect such a ride would have on the Route 66 image that Williams has built up. Joplin Missouri and Branson Missouri have theme parks along, or in the area of, Route 66 both trading off on the Route 66 name. Knight’s Action Park operates in Springfield, Illinois along the Mother Road.

Blog BatesLine by Michael Bates of Tulsa Okalahoma asked: Wouldn’t it be cool to restore Crystal City on Historic Route 66 as an amusement park, right next to a restored Red Fork Main Street?

Dwayne the canoe guy commented:

This is great news. There is a small amusement ‘park’ on Route 66 in Joplin but it would be great to have a good sized park like Bell’s rockin & rollin on the Mother Road. Especially with a minigolf with 66 icons (wigwam motel, round barn, gemini giant, cadillac ranch)

Right here in Williams, Napolitano approved a special taxing district for a theme park in Williams that never developed. That action even caused the County Board of Supervisors to raise property taxes for a short time. So you now know what a “special taxing district” is.

Flagstaff operates a smaller version of the Zip Line ride at their Extreme Adventure Course near the fairgrounds as seen in the following video.

There are currently Zip Line rides in Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Hawaii. For the longest and fastest Zip Line in the world, you will need a ticket to South Africa.

Mr. Brown indicated that the ride would be “low impact” meaning that it could be easily removed leaving no marks if it did not do well. However, the engineering in the videos presented does not appear to bear that out. It appears that Williams would have to build a large tower to make the ride. It is also unclear how the project would impact softball and little league games at the park.

While the project does not seem appropriate in the indicated area, it could be an interesting compliment to the Bearizona drive through wildlife park. Another area of possible interest might be the Williams snow play area.

Flagstaff Regional Plan Raises Concerns

Posted on by

flagstaff-img_0314By Elisha Dorfsmith

FLAGSTAFF—Last Thursday the long awaited draft version of the Flagstaff Regional Plan was released to the public. The plan now has a 60 day public comment period before it goes to the Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County Board of Supervisors for their approval. Once the City and County approve the plan, it will go to voters in a special election scheduled for May 20, 2014.

Before the plan was released, Flagstaff City Council member Jeff Oravits and many others raised concerns that the Regional Plan Citizens Advisory Committee was not balanced and was stacked with members of groups like F3 and other organizations with an extreme agenda.

Oravits fought to get more balance on the Committee during several council sessions but the majority of the Council said no and so the Committee remained one sided.

Now that the draft version of the plan has been released, I am receiving emails from concerned residents who say wording in the plan tramples individual liberty and private property rights. Of particular concern are the comments in the plan about social sustainability.

“Environmental, economic, cultural and social sustainability ensure that present actions are the basis for future health and prosperity.”

People are taking this to mean behavior control and the possibility of a Bloomberg style nanny state coming to the Flagstaff area.

Read more at Flagstaff Liberty Blog

Game and Fish seeks information on elk poaching case

Posted on by

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking the public’s assistance in finding the individual or individuals responsible for illegally killing a cow elk in a poaching incident in northern Arizona.

The poaching may have occurred during the weekend of March 16. Evidence discovered at the scene indicates that the elk was shot twice, with a center fire rifle, from Lake Mary Road near the Narrows, about 12 miles southeast of Flagstaff. The entire animal was left to waste, leaving investigating officers to believe that the suspect(s) may have been scared off by another vehicle, were spotlighting, or just randomly shot the elk from the road.

“We investigate numerous poaching cases throughout the year and rely heavily on the public’s help in catching the people that do this.” says Wildlife Manager, Lee Luedeker. “The weather was really nice that weekend and a lot of people were out, we need information from someone who was in that area. Luedeker adds, “They may have enough information for us to bust the poachers, all it takes is one piece of evidence to break a case.”

Anyone with information regarding this case can call the department’s Operation Game Thief Hotline toll free at (800) 352-0700 or use the online form at www.azgfd.gov/thief. Callers should provide case number 13-000609 when calling. All calls may remain confidential upon request. A reward of up to $1,350 may be available for information leading to the arrest of the violator(s).

And you thought the Obama Executive Order privileged was bad.

Posted on by

forest-20121004 015There has been much todo about the abuse of the presidential executive order and, perhaps, rightly so. The regular old trustworthy media outlets will let you know it is much todo about nothing.

Executive orders were intended to inform the employees how they are to carry out the laws created by the Legislative branch (Congress). They were not to be used to circumvent those laws or create laws as they have been used by recent presidents.

But how would you feel if the employee of your employee could write their own “executive orders” with full force of law:

“…punishable as a Class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5,000.00 for individuals and $10,000.00 for organizations, or imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.”

Such is the case with Executive Order Number: 04-13-04-R by M. Earl Stewart of the Coconino National Forest, “Done at Flagstaff, Arizona this 13th day of March, 2013..”

The order is to prevent people from “Possessing or using a bicycle off of National Forest System Roads or trails in the restricted areas.” Those new restricted areas are as follows:

1.Schnebly Hill Area: SR89A to the west, Caner Canyon to the north, Schnebly Hill Road to the east and south.

2.Transept Area: Junction of Verde Valley School Road and Forest boundary in Section 11, then north to junction with Templeton Trail, then east to switchbacks next to private property, then further east to SR179, then south along SR179 to Forest boundary, then west to Verde Valley School Road.

3.Scheurman Mt. – Airport Area: Junction of Lower Red Rock Loop Road and Forest boundary in Section 28 west and north along Lower Red Rock Loop Road to SR89A, then east to Sedona High School and then east along boundary with private/Forest boundary north of Carroll Canyon, continuing east along private boundary north of the Sedona Airport to Brewer Road, then southwest generally following Oak Creek along Forest/private boundary to junction of Ridge Trail with Chavez Ranch Road, follow Chavez Ranch Road west to Upper Red Rock Loop Road, and then west to connect with Lower Red Rock Loop Road.

4.Possessing or using a bike is permitted ONLY in the following slickrock locations that are within the restricted areas, adjacent to a designated trail: Cow Pies, upper and lower Hangover saddles, slickrock between Hiline Saddle and “the Hiline chute”, slickrock bench above Yavapai Vista, and slickrock bench at junction of Templeton and Cathedral Rock trails.

Oh, unless you work for the “forest service” in which case you can drive vehicles of any kind throughout the forest or whatever as long as it is in the performance of your duty.

“This order is needed to prevent impacts to the highly erosive soils, Oak Creek water quality, archaeological sites, and the Casner Canyon RNA resulting from bicycle use off of National Forest system roads and trails,” the order claims.

Doggone bicycles! Ruining nature. I knew you were evil.

The fact that this can be done by a bureaucratic employee is disturbing enough. But according to a recent press release concerning HB 2551, Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles said, “[C]urrently state law says that if a federal entity establishes regulations related to roads, trails, routes and closed areas, they are automatically codified by Arizona state law and if a person operates outside the parameters of the federal regulation, that individual is automatically in violation of state law.”

That means that this Executive Order enjoys full coverage of Arizona State Law. This means that an employee of the employee of our national government can willey-nilley make a law completely bypassing that nasty old Tenth Amendment, the rights of the citizens of Arizona with no due interference from our State Legislature—not to mention in complete violation of the Constitution of the United States of America. And the State employee of the national employee of the national employee has to enforce it. And all without having to file one campaign finance report.

Get it?

Senator Chester Crandell and The Arizona Game and Fish Commission support the bill, “…but the commissions support is contingent on changes that will be offered by the commission allowing the State of Arizona to decide which federal rules and regulations will become enforceable by state wildlife officers under state law.”

By the way, we are not referring to any old H.B. 2551,

“Amending title 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding chapter 18; providing for the delayed repeal of title 6, chapter 18, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act; relating to financial institutions.”

We are referring to the new and improved H.B. 2551 “strike all” amendment that would,

“Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert:

“Section 1. Section 28-1174, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

28-1174. Operation restrictions; violation; classification

&tc., &tc., ad nauseam.

You’re welcome. If we can confuse you any more, then we should be getting a check from George Soros.

Snow and Bureaucrats

Posted on by

Where else but Flagstaff would bureaucrats haul in snow ahead of a major snow storm to CLOSE roads? Unbelieveable! Aren’t you glad you don’t live there and pay taxes for this? Even though the article says it isn’t costing taxpayers anything, I’d challange that……THINK ABOUT IT. So now we have yellow snow to play in at the Snowbowl and truck loads of snow hauled in ahead of a major snow storm to close the streets in Flagstaff. Don’t you just love bureaucrats! KUDOS to Williams for offering some more sane options, get out next weekend and enjoy the Mountain Mushers.

Exerpt:

“…., the city has brought in more than a dozen truckloads of artificial snow to transform two blocks of North San Francisco Street into a winter wonderland.

In all, the city has used nearly 400,000 gallons of potable water to make snow for the two-day event.”

Read it all at the AZ Daily Sun

Source: Williams TEA Party

Challenging elk hunts offered for fall hunting season near Flagstaff

Posted on by

Hunters that are looking for a physically challenging hunt in an area with limited vehicular access should consider applying for tags for the “Peaks Hunt Area” in Game Management Unit 7 East, just north of Flagstaff.

FLAGSTAFF—For the second year in a row, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission has approved any-elk and antlerless elk tags in the Peaks Hunt Area in Unit 7 East to promote successful aspen regeneration. Approximately 90 percent of all aspen found on the Coconino National Forest are found in this limited hunt area. Recent wildfires have killed some of the adult aspen trees, but have also stimulated extensive sprouting of young aspen that elk prefer to eat especially during the fall. Wildlife biologists believe that by focusing elk management in this area now, chances will increase for robust aspen regeneration.

“We are offering these permits in coordination with the Coconino National Forest as another habitat management tool for aspen regeneration on the Peaks,” says Carl Lutch, wildlife program manager for the Flagstaff regional office. “There are other factors impacting aspen trees, but reducing the number of elk that utilize aspen is one piece of the puzzle in helping aspen recover on the Coconino National Forest.”

For more than a decade, wildlife biologists and land managers have been working to keep aspen stands healthy on the San Francisco Peaks. The U.S. Forest Service has invested more than $600,000 in recent years to promote aspen regeneration in the area through a variety of methods. Monitoring indicates that without intervention many of the aspen in the area could be lost. In addition to browsing by wildlife and livestock, some of the factors that affect aspen health include lack of fire, disease, drought, insects, late frosts, and crowding by other species of trees like conifers. While aspen are short-lived trees that are susceptible to many disturbances, their natural defense is to sprout vigorously from the roots when adult trees die. If sprouts are killed several years in a row, the root system and the trees will eventually die.

Game and Fish and the Forest Service want hunters who put in for this area to know that the hunts are primarily wilderness hunts that are more physically challenging than other hunt areas. These hunts are tailor-made for hunters who want to get away from roads and hunt on foot or horseback. An added benefit to hunters is that the Peaks Hunts are offered at a time of year when elk are rutting and the aspen are in full fall splendor. The unit includes both the San Francisco Peaks and the very scenic Hart Prairie.

The Flagstaff Ranger District on the Coconino National Forest is anxious to help motivated hunters who choose this hunt unit. Limited areas of the unit are closed to horseback access to protect Flagstaff’s water supply in the inner basin. Special regulations also apply in the Kachina Peaks wilderness, but with advance planning this unit provides outstanding opportunities to hunt elk in a remote setting. The Forest Service will have a special link on their website that will provide Peaks Unit hunters with updated information and tips on access into prime hunting locations.

“This hunt unit offers the type of setting you would normally expect somewhere like Colorado or Montana, so the tactics need to be a little different,” says U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Mike Elson. “In addition to providing a unique experience in Arizona, this hunt is also a critical tool in helping us manage for healthy aspen and healthy elk habitat.”

The 2013 Pronghorn and Elk hunt regulation booklet is available now. The deadline to apply for hunts is by 7p.m. on Tuesday, Feb.12.

To view the hunting regulations and apply for fall hunts on line, go to www.azgfd.gov/draw.

Northern Arizona Authors Association meeting scheduled for Feb. 2 in Flagstaff.

Posted on by

FLAGSTAFF—The Northern Arizona Authors Association will conduct their meeting this Saturday, February 2d in Flagstaff. The meeting will be held at one of Flagstaff’s oldest churches, the Federated Church at 400 W. Aspen. The meeting will be held from 10 am to 12.

Author Cozzette Riggs proposes to have a longer meeting some time later to demonstrate how to put short stories directly on Kindle devices. People would have to bring their own laptop with their stories ready to publish. The later meeting is still uncertain, but might be held at Camp Civitan or at the City Hall in Williams.