Coconino National Forest receives $100K for Sedona trail maintenance
Dec 23, 2016, 10:05 AM | Updated: 10:20 am
(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — It’ll be a very merry Christmas for hikers who like hiking Sedona trails: The Coconino National Forest recently received $100,000 to perform “essential” maintenance on trails in the area.
In a press release, Coconino National Forest officials said the trails are a “mecca for mountain bikers, hikers and nature lovers” and are worn down due to “high use, sandy soil and intense monsoon storms.”
(Photo: Coconino National Forest)
“It’s great having such supportive partners in the Sedona community,” Red Rock District Ranger Nicole Branton said in the press release.
The money was raised by the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund, a non-profit organization run by local residents with a mission to “sustain and enhance red rock trails.” When it was first established in 2013, it raised $22,000 for local maintenance.
Jennifer Burns, president of the fund, said it received a “substantial” donation from the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau this year in order to renovate trails between Sugarloaf and Chimney Rock. Local businesses, including resorts in the area, also donate to the fund.
Coconino National Forest officials said they are working to come up with practical and sustainable ways to fund trail maintenance in Sedona, which costs more than $400,000 each year.
