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Officials are working on building and mapping a trail for all terrain
vehicles (ATV) and dirt bikes stretching from the Bonita Creek area to
Springerville.
"We're trying to develop a trail system so people can get on the trail
from the Bonita Creek area and go to Clifton, and from Clifton, catch
trails that take them to Springerville," Graham County Supervisor Drew
John said. "We're talking about a three-day ride that will be a lot of
fun for some people."
The Klondyke area and Hotwell Sand Dunes are other areas of interest for
building trails.
John said the trails could bring money into the county. He said some
people coming to use trails in Graham County would spend the night in
the county and spend money on everything from gas and lodging to food
and clothing.
"There is definitely an economic gain from it," John said. "In Arizona,
there are millions of dollars spent on outdoor recreation and off-road
vehicles each year."
The process is about three-quarters done, John said. Pamphlets
containing the maps should be completed by winter and will be available
at the Chamber of Commerce, ATV dealerships, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service offices.
Before the pamphlets can be produced, the trails still need to be
recorded using a Global Positioning Satellite and marked so people know
where they are.
John said other parts of the country have implemented similar trail
systems, and it reduced the problem of illegal riding on private
property.
"We're trying to have some trails here for people to ride with their
families to keep them off of private property or places they can't
ride," John said. "If you have trails, people will go to those trails
and ride. If you don't have trails, people will ride where they want to
ride."
John, who is also a member of the state Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV)
advisory council, said his biggest concern is setting up a trail system
so people know where they are allowed to ride.
"I got on this (council) so I could help this along to make sure we can
tell people where they can ride, rather than telling them where they
can't ride," he said.
He said different entities, like BLM and the Forest Service, have
different rules about where people can ride ATVs. The OHV council is
also working to address this problem.
Bonnie Winslow from the BLM is helping with the project. Winslow was
been assigned to the BLM Kingman office and isn't expected to return
until September.
When Winslow returns, John said they will finish the project.
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