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County adopts consolidated Open Space and Trails Management Plan after extended community outreach
Summary
Council received and advanced an updated Open Space and Trails Management Plan consolidating prior plans, resolving conflicting strategies, and adding new emphasis on public education and accessibility; staff noted implementation timelines and next steps.
Los Alamos County officials presented a consolidated Open Space and Trails Management Plan on Oct. 7 that merges and streamlines more than a decade of separate plans into a single implementation document.
Eric Peterson, the county's open space specialist, and Allison Long of Site Southwest said the work reconciles older trail and open‑space documents, resolves conflicts and recommends short, medium and long‑term actions. The plan emphasizes maintenance funding, public education and outreach on trail etiquette, improved signage and accessibility. Long said the consultant team consolidated more than 160 strategies into a streamlined set and added specific new strategies where public engagement identified gaps, particularly for accessibility and cross‑user education between equestrians and cyclists.
Councilors questioned staffing and technical expertise for species and cultural resource issues; staff said they collaborate with state archaeologists and LANL biologists as needed and noted wildfire mitigation is addressed through an existing fire‑department contract. The plan includes an implementation matrix identifying which strategies are short, medium or long term, and staff said it will be brought back for adoption and to integrate funding priorities.
Several residents and stakeholders urged the council to convert recommendations into funded action, not just planning documents. Councilors asked staff to return with budgeted priorities and said the plan will be reviewed again with more detailed implementation steps.
