February 22, 2010 by taha
Hello fellow hikers and outdoor enthusiasts,
As many of you may already know, the State of Arizona is starting to close 13 state parks in the coming weeks. Many of us are contacting our representatives about this issue, but in addition to the state closures I also wanted to provide you with some information about the planned closure of a number of our beautiful Phoenix parks. These closures are not getting the same amount of press as the state park closures, but to those of us who love these areas and use them regularly these closures will have a significant impact on us and visitors to our area! As of right now, it appears that the City of Phoenix is planning to lay off 14 park rangers and reduce public access to our local parks in the area. The city plans to reduce public access to the parks by closing them on Mondays and Tuesdays. The anticipated closures include:
If this concerns you as it does us, please email one or all of the City of Phoenix Councilman listed at the links below and tell them to keep our parks open and save the jobs of 14 Phoenix Park Rangers:
Councilman Thelda Williams at: http://phoenix.gov/district1/emdist1/index.html
Councilman Peggy Neely at: http://phoenix.gov/district2/emdist2/index.html
Councilman Bill Gates: http://phoenix.gov/district3/emdist3/index.html
Councilman Tom Simplot at: http://phoenix.gov/district4/emdist4/index.html
Councilman Claude Maddox at: http://phoenix.gov/district5/emdist5/index.html
Councilman Sal DiCiccio at: http://phoenix.gov/district6/index.html
Councilman Michael Nowakowski at:http://phoenix.gov/district7/emdist7/index.html
Councilman Michael Johnson at: http://phoenix.gov/district8/emdist8/index.html
Mayor Phil Gordon at: http://phoenix.gov/mayor/emmayor/index.html
Help us save our Phoenix Mountain Parks from closure!
2 Responses to “Phoenix Parks Closures!”
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I will speak on behalf of Camelback Mtn seeing that it is the mtn that I hike 3-4 days a week and have made this mtn a home away from home. I have set some pretty intense goals up on this mtn having hiked it last year 12 times in a row and to even hear that it may be closed down for 2 days of the week saddens me beyond belief.
The majority of my friends hike this mtn and I even met my boyfriend up on Camelback (echo side). For the sake of fitness enthusiasts and those of us who hold this mtn so sacred to our souls, please consider us locals when thinking of closing down this wonderful outlet for so many people. My question to you is HOW can you really keep people OFF the mtn even if you do close it 2 days a week? Will you then be paying for a guard or ranger to stand at it’s entrance because with the budget cuts that would not make sense. Would you have police or security standing guard to keep loyal hikers off the land? Please, please reconsider this decision and hear my voice (just one) of us many!
Thanks! Melissa Branta and Jack “Camelback Jack”Dunn
This stinks! Why not lay of some office workers instead, How about some 6 figure income management? Parks are a basic right to the citizens of the city, as they belong to all of us. To deny the public access to them is just plain wrong. The parks and preserves are one of the few good things this city has to offer. I hike in the Phoenix mountains every day of the week and I have not seen a ranger patrolling the trails in years anyway.