Buena Vista Project Receives Final Approval!

BV Project Receives USFS Approval Today: Folks, we've got really great news to share. This afternoon we received word that the USFS has approved the Buena Vista project! This means that the old social trail system in the Buena area that were not included in the land exchange area are now official trails We are also free to build the rest of the proposed trails in the project area, to post signage, and to create some re-routes of some existing social trails to move those away from archeologically sensitive areas.

It feels unreal to have reached this point after ten years of effort. We started this project back in 2016 when the possibility of making the Buena Vista's social trail system official seemed like a bit of fantasy not too many took seriously. But your voices of support, petition signing really moved the needle. The support and guidance of the USFS and White Mountain TRACKS helped a ton. And that's to say nothing of the, financial and in-kind support from individuals, the City of Show Low, Navajo County the developer of the Show Low land exchange area that have pushed this project along and paid for archeological clearances and signage we will be posting. There will be more to share and say about this in the near future, but for now, just sit back and enjoy the good news. We're going to have a blow-out of a party when we are ready to dedicate this new stacked-loop system, which is really the first of its kind in the White Mountains. Hopefully, that will happen sometime in the fall, around the time of the Tour of the White Mountains race.

The even better news is that trail construction starts Monday morning at 8:00 a.m., which is the Memorial Day holiday. The TRACKS trail crew will be out there with their trailer and all the tools needed at the Buena Vista trailhead to start construction on the new easy green-rated trail, "Rainbows," which will be complimented very quickly upon its completion by its friend, "Sunshine." We would really like to have a huge turnout to help on Monday so we can get these beginner trails completed fast and before further fire restrictions or a total forest closure has an opportunity to happen because the the existing dry conditions. If you can at all help Monday morning, even for a little while, please come out and lend a hand moving some dirt!