Parks & Rec Board recommends consolidated Open Space and Trails Management Plan to council

The Los Alamos Parks & Recreation Board unanimously recommended a consolidated Open Space and Trails Management Plan to County Council after a consultant described the project’s community engagement, conflict resolution and implementation framework.

Allison Long, senior planner and project manager with Site Southwest, told the board the effort reviewed six prior plans and consolidated roughly 160 strategies into a streamlined document intended to be more usable for staff and the public. Long said the team reduced redundancies, resolved 15 conflicting strategies through wording changes and converted 37 overlapping strategies into 11 umbrella strategies. She said the draft adds accessibility strategies and more public‑education elements and assigns each strategy a short, medium or long‑term timeframe so staff and the public can track implementation.

Long described community outreach that included in‑person and virtual listening sessions, workshops, a project website and a five‑week public comment period. She estimated the team processed on the order of hundreds of comments (“closer to 500”), ran thematic analysis by topic and location, and used that input to prioritize trails, open‑space maintenance, restoration, safety and amenities.

Public commenters raised recurring priorities and gaps: equestrian users asked for clearer recognition and winter trail access from private stables to Bio Mesa, working‑group members and others asked for more explicit invasive‑species removal strategies and wildfire/climate planning, and several residents asked for a clearer action plan and a transparent record of how submitted comments were incorporated. Mike Steinzig urged more volunteer engagement for on‑the‑ground maintenance and invasive‑species work.

Staff said they expect to present the final draft to County Council in September and that many recent comments are already being incorporated. The board moved to recommend adoption and send the plan to council; the motion passed unanimously by roll call.

Staff characterized the plan as a five‑to‑seven‑year guiding document that will also operate as an appendix to the forthcoming comprehensive plan and as a tool to prioritize grant applications and capital improvements. The board asked that any policy statements that affect multiple users continue to route through the Parks & Recreation Board, while staff noted some internal policy adjustments may remain administrative.

The plan will go to County Council for adoption; staff offered to circulate the final adopted document to the board either by email or at a future board meeting.