FLAGSTAFF – Parking near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim is set to undergo a transformation that officials say will make it easier for tourists to spot the visitor center and will improve safety.

Nearly 4 million people visit the canyon’s South Rim each year, and finding parking can be difficult. Many motorists are forced to park alongside the road in busy areas, setting up conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles.

Construction beginning this month will add 600 new spaces in three parking lots within a few hundred yards of the rim, a separate parking area for 40 commercial tour buses and a shuttle bus staging area.

“That will correct that situation, and make it much safer and improve the visitor experience greatly,” said Maureen Oltrogge, a spokeswoman for the Grand Canyon National Park.

The Park Service released the visitor transportation plan for the Grand Canyon in February 2008 to address long waits to enter the park, traffic congestion, poor traffic flow and access to the visitor center that opened in 2000.

The first phase of the project near Mather Point, a popular lookout spot, is expected to be complete by November and cost $5.3 million.

When finished, the entrance road will loop around the Canyon View Information Plaza to the south and west, providing access to the new parking lots and visitor center about 300 yards from Mather Point.

Project manager Vicky Stinson said Mather Point is the first area to catch a glimpse of the canyon for people who are coming to the South Rim. But, she said, “if you’ve missed that, you’ve missed the visitor center, too.”

The visitor center provides opportunities for tourists to interact with interpretive rangers, see exhibits, seasonal messages and know what the weather has in store for the day, Oltrogge said.

“It’s a good place to stop and plan your visit and know what’s out there in terms of park activities and programs,” Oltrogge said.

A second phase of construction will remove about 115 parking spaces at Mather Point, and add an amphitheater at the rim and interpretive exhibits. Stinson said park officials have the option to add another 300 parking spaces at the visitor center in the future.

A guide that park officials hand out at the entrance to the South Rim alerts the public to possible traffic delays and detours during construction.

Park officials have added a northbound entrance lane, kiosks, and an independent pass lane for the park’s shuttle buses and emergency and government vehicles at the entrance to the South Rim to ease traffic congestion.

Visitors also have the option again this year to park their vehicles in nearby Tusayan and take a shuttle to the South Rim. The program is expected to start next month and run through mid-September.

Nation making pitch to run some tours on the Colorado River

FLAGSTAFF – The Navajo Nation is lobbying for one of its businessmen to run coveted river trips through the Grand Canyon.

With only one American Indian tribe currently doing so, the director of the Navajo Nation’s Division of Economic Development says its time to open the door to others.

Allan Begay said the Navajo Nation would like for the venture to begin soon, but Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin said that’s unlikely. The National Park Service tightly controls the number of people who can set out on the river and a management plan isn’t up for review.

But, he said, “we also understand the importance of economic development, and the importance of working together. Our goal is to sit down with them and try to find areas where we can support one another.”

The 2006 management plan for the Colorado River was the result of years of talks among scientists, National Park Service managers and other professionals, with input from tour operators, Indian tribes and the public.

Under the plan, 24,567 people on commercial and noncommercial trips are allowed to travel down the Colorado River each year. Those seeking to raft the river in private boats are selected through a computerized lottery system and are limited to one trip per year.

The Park Service has said the plan would be in place for 10 years, but alterations could be made if necessary.

Before considering that option, Martin said he first wants to hear more about the tribe’s proposal. He said he has responded to a letter Begay sent him in February asking that Navajo businessman Mike Anderson be allowed to launch boats in the upper part of the Grand Canyon.

“I think the complexity of this situation is that we just finished a couple of years ago the Colorado River Management Plan, which evaluates the impacts and sets out a regime for management of visitor use and protection of the resources,” Martin said. “Any Navajo proposal is not in that document.”

Concerns of overburdening the canyon and the river are well-founded, Begay said, and the Park Service has the right to advocate for fewer activities along the Grand Canyon.

“The other side of that, though, is that we would be interested in taking advantage of opportunities on the same level as anybody else, and that’s the advocacy from here,” he said.

Anderson said the business would help address the lack of economic development on the Navajo Nation, where half the work force is unemployed. The tribe, which contends the reservation’s boundary extends to the middle of the Colorado River, should be able to assert its rights to the waterway, he said.

Anderson, who manages the Navajo Nation’s Antelope Point Marina at Lake Powell, said he would like to launch boats into the Colorado River from Lees Ferry.

“We’re looking to work in this development so it’s a win-win,” Anderson said. “We’re not looking to ultimately prevent other companies from developing. If it’s in the interest and benefit of the Navajo Nation, let’s develop it.”

The Hualapai Tribe, which runs the lower river trips, is allowed 96 passengers per day during the summer months. The 2,300-member tribe’s reservation spans 1 million acres bordered on the north by 108 miles of river.

PHOENIX – Arizona state parks apparently can avoid more park closures in the last three months of the current fiscal year, thanks to cost-cutting and suspensions of grants for recreation and cultural projects to partly offset midyear budget cuts, the system’s director said Friday.

And more closures could be avoided through the next fiscal year but only if legislators don’t divert more money to help close the state’s big budget shortfall, Director Ken Travous told the Parks Board. “If they want to take all of our money, then they have to have consequences too,” Travous said.

Three state parks with falling-down buildings have been closed temporarily, partly because of the budget crunch, and parks officials resorted to suspending numerous grants to local communities and cultural groups in order to divert the money to help keep remaining parks open.

“We are doing everything possible” to keep parks open and keep providing grants, said board Chairman Reese Woodling. “We are feeling terrible about the grant situation but we have nowhere else to go.”

In new responses to the midyear budget cuts made by lawmakers in January, the Parks Board authorized park officials to close individual parks up to two days a week and endorsed controversial legislation pending at the Legislature. Those parks, which would close a day or two a week, likely would be day-use ones, not those with camping, Assistant Director Jay Ream.

The legislation would provide the parks system with $20 million from a land conservation fund and restore that fund’s money several years from now.

The bill is stalled at the Legislature. It has drawn opposition because of the diversion from the conservation fund and because it would set a precedent for diverting money from a voter-mandated program for a use arguably not its intended purpose. The three closed parks are Jerome, McFarland Historic in Florence and Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson. Officials have warned budget cuts could force closure of additional parks, including ones in or near Flagstaff, Oracle, Sedona, Winslow and Yuma.

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Closure targets

Parks being considered for closure:

• Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde

• Jerome State Historic Park in Jerome

• Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow

• Lyman Lake State Park in Springerville

• McFarland State Historic Park in Florence

• Oracle State Park

• Red Rock State Park in Sedona

• Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff

• Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson

• Tubac Presidio State Historic Park

• Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park

The same day that the Arizona Game & Fish Department launched an investigation into the capture of the last known wild jaguar in southern Arizona, U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva asked the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to investigate the capture and later euthanization of Macho B.

“While the Arizona Game & Fish Department has stated that it will investigate the circumstances of this case, I strongly feel that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, as the federal agency with responsibility for conservation of endangered species, needs to step in and determine the facts of this case,” Grijalva said Wednesday in a news release.

“It is not enough that the Game & Fish Department investigate its own activities, given what has happened, as they have made it clear that they would not change any aspect of their handling of this animal.”

Grijalva questions the protocol of the initial capture, the factors leading to the jaguar’s recapture, the animal’s health status prior to euthanization and why a more thorough autopsy was not performed.

The director of the state Game & Fish Department declined to give details about new information he said sparked the launch of the state agency’s investigation.

“The department’s investigative protocol requires careful protection of relevant information pending an outcome,” Larry Voyles said in a news release. “But once the process concludes, we will disclose information to the extent allowable by law.”

Macho B was accidentally caught in a Game & Fish snare set to capture bears and mountain lions on Feb. 18. He was released with a radio collar, then recaptured 12 days later after his movements slowed, hinting the aging jaguar was sick.

A Phoenix Zoo veterinarian put Macho B down after determining the animal’s kidneys were failing. Game and Fish was criticized for stressing Macho B by putting a radio collar on him. Stress can cause kidney failure in large cats.

Some environmentalists believe the stress of capture and collaring caused Macho B’s death.

“It was a high-risk activity, and they knew that,” said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Serraglio offered the comment at a March 5 protest “memorial service” for Macho B. About three dozen people attended the protest outside Game & Fish’s Tucson office.

The center this week won a lawsuit aimed at reversing U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service decisions not to designate critical habitat or create a recovery plan for jaguars. A federal judge ordered the agency to revisit the decisions by Jan. 8.

Game & Fish officials could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

By Ryn Gargulinski, B. William Poole

Fish & Wildlife Service was sued by ‘green’ groups

A federal judge Tuesday ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to revisit its decisions not to designate habitat and create a recovery plan for jaguars in the United States.

The decision in a lawsuit filed by Defenders of Wildlife and the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity comes just weeks after the agency killed what many believe was the last jaguar in Arizona.

U.S. District Judge John M. Roll ruled Fish & Wildlife did not “articulate a rational basis” for the decision not to designate critical habitat for the Western Hemisphere’s largest cat. That decision must be revisited, Roll said in the 32-page ruling.

The agency also must go back to the drawing board and decide whether to draft a recovery plan, the judge ordered, setting Jan. 8 as the deadline.

Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, was elated at the news.

“This is a lifeboat that has been extended to the jaguar, and it’s a much needed lifeboat,” Robinson said.

The court’s decision does not mean a recovery plan and habitat designation are a foregone conclusion, said Fish & Wildlife spokesman Jeff Humphrey.

“They didn’t order us to designate critical habitat or write a recovery plan,” Humphrey said.

The ruling only requires that the agency decide again whether to do those things, he said.

This is the third time Fish & Wildlife will decide on critical habitat, Robinson said.

Fish & Wildlife declined to designate habitat the first time because it determined that the process would harm the jaguars by highlighting their location.

After that was struck down, the service found the U.S. habitat was not critical to the species. That decision was shot down Tuesday, he said.

Robinson believes the service will now be forced to designate critical habitat.

“There is no other conceivable excuse under the law not to designate critical habitat,” he said.

Brian Segee, a Defenders of Wildlife attorney who argued for a jaguar recovery plan before the federal district court, also was buoyed by the decision.

“The United States is the jaguar’s home, and we should take the actions necessary for it to recover here. We are thrilled with the court’s decision and hope the Fish & Wildlife Service will now move quickly to initiate recovery planning and provide the jaguar with the full Endangered Species Act protections,” he said in a news release.

Species with recovery plans and designated critical habitat recover much faster than species without them, the center said in its news release.

The center had sponsored a “memorial service” protest March 5 in honor of the euthanized cat, Macho B.

The nearly 20-year-old jaguar had been photographed in Arizona since 1996, but was euthanized earlier this month after a veterinarian determined Macho B’s kidneys were failing.

The big cat was accidentally captured in February by an Arizona Game & Fish Department snare, then released with a radio collar. He was recaptured 12 days later after his movements abruptly changed, hinting he was sick.

Jaguars used to roam across much of the United States from the San Francisco Bay area to Appalachia. Sightings have been rare for decades in Arizona.

Robinson believes Tuesday’s ruling will lead to broad habitat designation for the cats, perhaps as far east as Louisiana and Mississippi. He is confident there will eventually be breeding pairs here.

Even if the agency decides to designate habitat and write a recovery plan, those things are likely years away, Humphrey said.

Pima County is No. 1 in infestations. What should you do? Carry kibble

Pima County is leading the pack in an extremely exciting category.

Rabies.

So far this year, we’re the No. 1 place in the entire state to be infested with this dread disease.

Who says nothing fun ever happens in and around Tucson?

From Jan. 1 through March 21, a total of 59 animals have tested positive for rabies across Arizona, 21 of those in Pima County. Comparatively, Cochise and Coconino counties have amassed a paltry 13 cases each.

Last year’s statewide rabies cases broke all records with 176, beating out the previous record of 169 set in 2005.

Pima’s rabid animal count for 2009 has thus far included 15 skunks and six foxes.

I was relieved my dogs – Phoebe and Sawyer – were not on the list, though one of my co-workers, Brad Poole, and his friend April McMahon nearly were.

They were out on a hiking date at Tanque Verde Falls when a skunk came barreling across a rock bed like, well, a skunk with rabies.

While in the past rabid skunks would turn cute and cuddly, perhaps to lure folks close enough to take a chunk out of a human arm, the skunks now come “charging, growling, snapping,” said county Health Department spokeswoman Patti Woodcock.

Rabid skunks are vying with Cujo for becoming the poster child for chilling rabid encounters.

At least Poole and McMahon did the right thing when confronted with the raving, raging skunk.

Poole got out his video camera, and they both moved closer. They then made their way to the rock crevice where the frenzied skunk had run to hide.

The two stopped short of poking their arms in the crevice, though Poole later told me he had considered poking a stick in the hole.

“The worst thing you can do is get too close to the animal,” said Steve Dell, a dog behaviorist and owner of Bark Busters dog training company.

His advice for folks, especially those out walking their dogs, is to divert the potentially rabid beast and get the heck out of there.

“Don’t bend down. Don’t try to feed it. Don’t try to pet the animal,” Dell warned. Even if the animal you’ve encountered has a collar, he said, it may be a stray that is infected.

“Carry some dog kibble or something in your pocket – obviously keep it away from your own granola mix – and gently toss the kibble a safe distance away from you.”

He noted that rabid animals, especially those that used to be house pets, will be foraging for food.

They should take to the kibble, giving you time to escape.

But make sure your own dogs don’t go for the kibble and end up fighting the rabid thing for it.

“Many dogs have an innate sense that something’s not right and will want to get away from the rabid animal,” he said. “Some are very friendly and will come up to anything.”

Sawyer, I’m sure, would attack a rabid beast. Phoebe would probably pee on it.

In either case, I’m stocking up on kibble.

Dell has yet to run across a rabid animal in Pima County, though a couple out hiking last year were attacked by a rabid bobcat.

Katrina Mangin and husband Rich Thomspon, both University of Arizona scientists, encountered the beastly beast while hiking in the Santa Rita Mountains last April.

That innate sense kicked in for Thompson, who immediately somehow knew the bobcat was rabid – even before it attacked his wife. The bobcat lunged at her, then climbed up her legs and wrapped itself around her, clawing and biting.

The couple got away only after Thompson pinned the raging cat to the ground with a stick and pummeled it to death with a hammer from his backpack.

Ouch. So much for the kibble.

As scary as encounters can be, Dell said it should not deter folks from enjoying the great outdoors.

“People should have no fear of hiking in this area,” he said, “assuming they use some common sense. They shouldn’t be frightened to the point of staying inside.”

Nor should they go without their kibble. And it can’t hurt to put a hammer in your backpack.

Ryn Gargulinski is a poet, artist and Tucson Citizen reporter who saw a rabid bat up close when a homeless man brought one inside the New York City pet store where she used to work. Listen to a preview of her column at 8:10 a.m. Thursdays on KLPX-FM (96.1). E-mail comments and job leads to ryndustries@hotmail.com.

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Rabid skunk video?

Watch Citizen Staff Writer Brad Poole’s encounter with a potentially rabid skunk.

FLAGSTAFF – An environmental group sued two federal agencies Wednesday over a land management plan it says fails to protect the endangered California condor from lead ammunition.

The Center for Biological Diversity is pushing for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to ban lead hunting ammunition that can poison or kill condors that feed on gut piles and carcasses.

“We really feel that without regulation, you’re going to continue to have chronic poisoning, you’re going to continue to have death,” said Jeff Miller of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

The BLM adopted a management plan for an area north of the Grand Canyon known as the Arizona Strip last year. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, issued an opinion on the plan a year earlier that environmentalists say is flawed.

Scott Sticha, a spokesman for the BLM’s Arizona Strip office, said the management plan does not address hunting ammunition and declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit.

Brenda Smith, assistant field supervisor for Fish & Wildlife in Flagstaff, said the agency is taking another look at its opinion but did not say what the review might entail or when it would be completed.

“There are some valid concerns, and we’re just making sure our analysis was appropriate,” she said.

The condor once numbered in the thousands across North America but was nearly extinct by the early 1980s from the effects of hunting, lead poisoning and habitat encroachment. The final 22 birds were captured in California and a breeding program started. There are now more than 300 of the giant vultures, and many have been released back to the wild in California, Arizona and Mexico, where their status varies.

State and federal agencies have stepped up efforts to reduce lead poisoning in condors and other animals. The National Park Service announced an effort earlier this month to eliminate the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle in parks by the end of 2010.

California passed a law that went into effect in July prohibiting hunters from using lead ammunition in the condor’s historic range, which covers 20 percent of the state.

The Arizona Game & Fish Department has said a voluntary program that provides hunters with vouchers for nonlead ammunition and encourages them to drop off gut piles for disposal at a checkpoint on the Kaibab plateau in northern Arizona is working just fine.

State officials tout a 90 percent compliance rate under the program. Utah officials plan to implement a plan similar to Arizona’s next year.

Miller said although he agrees with the educational aspects of Arizona’s program, he argues it’s unlikely the condors will make a successful recovery without a ban on lead ammunition.

“That program is never going to have a high-enough compliance rate or participation rate as long as it is voluntary,” he said. “There are still going to be enough people hunting with lead that we’re still going to have the poisoning.”

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On the Web

Center for Biological Diversity:

www.biologicaldiversity.org/

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program:

www.fws.gov/endangered/i/b0g.html

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK – The main roadway leading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is set to reopen for the summer season on May 15.

Grand Canyon National Park officials closed Arizona State Route 67 on Dec. 1 for the winter season. Most facilities at the North Rim closed on Oct. 15.

All the facilities, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, will also reopen on May 15.

Rim operations also include camping, camper services, food services, groceries and a service station. Park rangers present daily programs.

The more popular South Rim of the canyon remains open year-round.

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On the Web

Grand Canyon National Park:

www.nps.gov/grca

Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim:

www.grandcanyonforever.com

A bobcat at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

COTTONWOOD – Three people in the central Arizona community of Cottonwood were attacked by a bobcat, including two men who were bitten by the animal after it wandered inside a bar.

Officers called to the Chapparal Bar on Main Street arrived to find the bobcat in the parking lot , and they shot and killed it.

Tests were ordered to determine if the animal was rabid.

Cottonwood police say about an hour before the bar attack the animal attacked and scratched a woman who had gotten out of her car after thinking she had hit it.

A short time later, police got a report of a bobcat acting aggressively toward a woman outside a Pizza Hut.

About 11 p.m. came the call from the bar that a bobcat was inside attacking people as patrons climbed atop bar stools to get away.

Biggest change would be to Happy Valley Road

Above from left: Matt Rousch, 15; Kendall Garmon, 16; Kris Garmon and Kristie Garmon, both 20, relax in front of their RV just off Happy Valley Road. Campsites like this would be off-limits under proposed Coronado National Forest rules. Background: Jeff Gregory, 47, often hunts and camps at Happy Valley in the Rincon Mountains.

Proposed Coronado National Forest changes would mean curtailed access for roadside campers in some spots, a forest official said.

However officials said they would try to keep as many campsites open as possible.

The changes to motorized vehicle rules – mandated by the federal government – are designed to ensure that road systems are maintained in a way that allows public and forest service access and protects the environment, said Laura White, an official for Coronado National Forest.

The proposed rules will be presented to the public Thursday in an open house in Tucson. The biggest change would restrict camping along Happy Valley Road, a 15-mile gravel path along the eastern flank of the Rincon Mountains.

“That’s the one where we have proposed doing away with dispersed motorized camping” within 300 feet of the road, White said. “We’re seeing an increase in the resource damage.”

The area, near Mescal, about an hour’s drive from Tucson, is crisscrossed with wildcat roads cut through the woods.

Some areas are so well-used that they are little more than large, streamside dirt lots where campers park RVs.

The new rules would create “spur” roads off of Happy Valley Road where camping would be allowed, White said.

Southern Arizonans have long used the area to escape from Tucson and as a launching point for ATV rides and hunting treks. Trails cut by riders have damaged the streambed in many places, and unauthorized trails are common.

But camper and hunter Jeff Gregory, 47, thinks the U.S. Forest Service is using the wrong method to control damage.

Gregory, a Mescal resident who was out at Happy Valley with his family Saturday, thinks the government should let campers camp, but make them respect the environment.

“Don’t restrict camping, just up the enforcement. If they come out here and see that your camp site’s a mess, they could issue a citation,” he said.

Joel Garmon, 48, has been camping and hunting at Happy Valley for three decades. He disputes White’s contention that there is an increase in damage.

“I don’t think this is in any worse shape than it was 30 years ago,” he said.

Most campers respect the environment and even clean up after others, he said. Still, a lot of people go there to drink, he said.

“That’s where you get a lot of problems with disrespect,” Garmon said.

The rule changes would add 5.75 miles of new forest road, reroute 0.95 miles and close 1.27 miles. There would be no significant changes to ATV access, because rules already prohibit ATVs except on designated roads, White said.

After the road changes were confirmed, maps would be published, probably by the end of this year, she said.

“That will be the enforcement tool, basically,” she said.

The Forest Service will take comments on the proposals through April 15.

Joel Garmon

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If you go

What: U.S. Forest Service open house to present proposed vehicle use rules.

When: 5-7:30 p.m., Thursday

Where: Udall Regional Center, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road

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Coronado National Forest Transportation Analysis Plan scoping statement: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/travel/scrd-scoping-notice-03112009.shtml

A striped skunk is shown in this undated photo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Pima County has had more cases of rabid animals this year than any other county, while Arizona is on track to set a record for the second consecutive year.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said 59 animals tested positive for rabies statewide this year.

Of those, 21 were in Pima County. Cochise and Coconino counties each had 13 cases.

Last year, 176 cases of rabies in animals were confirmed. The previous record of 169 cases was set in 2005.

Rabies causes acute swelling of the brain and is always fatal to untreated humans.

This year, 35 skunks, 21 foxes, one bobcat, one ringtail and one horse have tested positive for rabies, DHS said. Those animals exposed seven people and 39 pets to the viral disease.

Fifteen of the rabid skunks and six of the infected foxes were in Pima County, Pima County Health Department spokeswoman Patti Woodcock said, warning “Stay away from foxes and skunks.”

Rabid skunks are much more aggressive this season than in the past, Woodcock said.

Traditionally, skunks infected by rabies have behaved friendly or cuddly, she said. This year, they have been “charging, growling, snapping.”

“The manifestation is very different than what we were seeing in the past,” Woodcock said.

Most of the rabid skunks have been found in the northeast corner of Saguaro National Park, although the animal is common on the outskirts of the metro area, she said.

Elisabeth Lawaczeck, state public health veterinarian with DHS, said skunks live near people because of the abundance of food, but will generally stay away from humans and domestic animals.

“They’re usually not very active in the middle of the day,” she said. “Being out during the day is a sign that they are not acting normally.”

Another indicator, Lawaczeck said, is rabid or sick skunks are more likely to attack dogs or chase or bite people.

During the last stage of their sickness, rabid skunks will wobble when they walk and fall down easily, she said.

Bats traditionally account for the greatest number of rabid animals in Arizona, accounting for 89 of last year’s 176 rabid animals.

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Who to call

If you believe you or your animal has been bit by a rabid animal, call Pima Animal Care at 243-9900.

FLAGSTAFF — Skiers and snowboarders have just a couple of weeks left to hit the slopes at the Arizona Snowbowl.

The ski resort north of Flagstaff announced Friday that it is closing April 5 for the season.

Warmer temperatures have forced early closure of a beginner trail.

Snowbowl officials say they’ll operate on a modified schedule starting Monday. The resort will be open from Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the final two weekends.

The resort opened Dec. 20 for the season.

PHOENIX – With three state parks shuttered due to budget cuts and more closures possible, Gov. Jan Brewer issued an executive order Wednesday reviving a task force that will recommend ways to preserve parks.

The order asks the Sustainable State Parks Task Force to discuss creative options that would allow the parks system to achieve financial self-sufficiency, including leasing, selling or cooperatively managing parks.

The governor appointed former Arizona Diamondbacks’ president Rich Dozer to chair the group. In a telephone interview, Dozer said everything is on the table, including privatization, because park closures would have considerable economic ramifications for small towns.

“We’re just trying to keep these great jewels operating and help the areas that they’re in,” he said. “A lot of the towns rely on the money from tourism from people that come to visit these parks.”

Dozer said the task force will convene later this month or early April.

Facing $35 million in legislative budget cuts for fiscal 2009, the Arizona State Parks Board has already temporarily closed Tonto National Bridge State Park near Payson, Florence’s McFarland State Historic Park and Jerome State Historic Park.

Park officials said they will consider closing several more at an April 3 board meeting.

Grady Gammage Jr., a Phoenix-area lawyer named to the task force, said because cities, towns or counties benefit economically from park tourism, one solution could be an arrangement whereby the municipalities share administrative duties and costs with the state.

“The idea of cooperative management strikes me as a particularly good idea,” he said. “Some parks are especially valuable to the community in which they sit.”

Former Gov. Janet Napolitano created the Sustainable State Parks Task Force last December before she left office to become Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

In the tumult surrounding Napolitano’s departure and Brewer’s transition, however, the group never met, said Jay Ziemann, assistant director of Arizona State Parks.

While he looks forward to the task force’s recommendations this time, he said selling parks likely wouldn’t be a popular idea.

“I don’t know that the public would be supportive of completely privatizing any park,” Ziemann said.

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PARKS TASK FORCE

Gov. Jan Brewer named the first members of the 21-member Sustainable State Parks Task Force:

Chairman

Rich Dozer, Phoenix, president of GenSpring, an investment company, and former president of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Members

• Bill Cordasco, Flagstaff, member of the Arizona State Parks Board.

• Diana Freshwater, Tucson, executive director of Arizona Land and Water Trust.

• Glen Kerslake, Tucson, president at Colonianueva Inc., a real estate consulting and project management firm.

• Grady Gammage Jr., Phoenix, lawyer at Gammage and Burnham. Harry Papp, Phoenix, and investment adviser at L. Roy Papp & Associates.

• Jeffery Williamson, Phoenix, president of the Arizona Zoological Society.

• Robert McLendon, Yuma, regent of the Arizona Board of Regents, former House representative.

• Walter Meek, Phoenix, president of the Arizona Utility Investor Association.

• William Roe, Tucson, board member of the Arizona Land and Water Trust and member of the Arizona State Parks Foundation Board.

PHOENIX — Arizona’s troubled state parks will be the focus of a task force being assembled by Gov. Jan Brewer to make recommendations on the system’s future and financial sustainability.

Parks maintenance and rehabilitation work has long been hindered by inadequate funding, and several parks with run-down historical buildings have been temporarily closed because of budget cuts. Additional parks have been identified for possible closure due to lack of money for operations.

Brewer’s predecessor, Janet Napolitano, ordered creation of the task force last year but Brewer’s office said Wednesday no work was done.

Former Arizona Diamondbacks President Rich Dozer is the chairman of the task force, which has an Oct. 31 deadline to submit recommendations.

A popular camping area on the eastern flank of the Rincon Mountains would be largely off limits under new rules proposed by Coronado National Forest.

The rules – required of all national forests – would forbid dispersed camping within 300 feet of Happy Valley Road, a secluded, tree-lined sanctuary popular with holiday campers and off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

The new rules would designate about 6 miles of new forest roads, reroute about 1 mile and close 1.3 miles, according to a Coronado news release.

Coronado is taking comments on the proposed changes. The forest published its proposed changes Wednesday and will hold an open house from 5 to 7:30 p.m. March 26 at Udall Regional Center, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.

Comments can be filed by e-mail at comments-southwestern-coronado@fs.fed.us (put “Travel Management NEPA” in the subject line), by fax at 388-8305 or by telephone at 388-8419.