Site Southwest presented the county’s consolidated Trails and Open Space Management Plan during the Oct. 7 meeting, bringing multiple older plans together into a single document with prioritized actions and an implementation timeline.

Lisonbee Long of Site Southwest said the plan combined several existing documents — the community trail plan, open space management plan, bicycle transportation plan, ADA audit/transition plan, canyon restoration assessment and others — and reorganized over 160 strategies into a streamlined set with short, medium and long‑term timeframes.

“The desire was to create a single document for managing the open space and trails in the county for the diverse interest of users,” Long said. The plan adds emphasis on public education, engagement, accessibility and maintenance reporting, and it introduces new strategies around etiquette among mixed trail users (e.g., equestrians and cyclists).

Councilors pressed staff on implementation. Councilor Ryan asked whether the county has in‑house biological and archaeological expertise for sensitive species and cultural resources; Open Space Specialist Eric Peterson said the county does not have a full‑time biologist or archaeologist and that staff coordinate with LANL and state archaeologists as needed. Peterson also described ongoing wildfire mitigation work led by the fire department, including a multi‑year contract to thin high‑risk parcels.

Long said community engagement included listening sessions, an August workshop and online comments; staff added that North Mesa had been more heavily vetted than other candidate sites in the bike‑park review. The plan includes an implementation matrix that assigns strategies to short, medium and long‑term windows and lists responsible parties.

Councilors asked for participation counts and noted the need to see the plan’s action priorities and budget impact when council considers funding during the next budget cycle. Council members and the public agreed that the plan’s consolidation makes long‑term maintenance and prioritization clearer, but several speakers called for more funding or staffing to support the management tasks described.

The consultant recommended carrying the single consolidated document forward as the county’s central planning and management tool, and staff will return to council with implementation and budget requests linked to the plan’s priority actions.