Sedona News – For the ninth successive year the city of Sedona has supported the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund Trail Keeper program. This year’s contribution of $52,000 comes at a critical time when cutbacks in Federal allocations and policy changes have put unforeseen strain on funding the essential maintenance needed to keep the expansive trail system in the Red Rock Ranger District sustainable.
The Trail Keeper program is a partnership program between the city of Sedona and local businesses that collectively will provide $120,000 in 2025 for maintenance of the Red Rock trails. Starting in 2017 with 25 Trail Keeper partners, the program has recently expanded to 68 supportive businesses and organizations whose names are featured on the trail map kiosks located at trailheads and are featured at redrocktrailfund.org.
Although the Red Rock Ranger District has 411 miles of non-motorized trails, approximately 75% are in the Sedona area. The annual cost of maintaining the trails has risen to almost $1 million, with Federal allocations covering approximately 10%.
The longstanding collaboration between the city of Sedona, local businesses and the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund is highly unique with the USFS and has enabled the Red Rock Ranger District to keep up with the surge in use of the trail systems as the population of Arizona and tourism have swelled.
“We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund team,” says Anette Spickard, city manager of the city of Sedona. “We are proud to partner with the USFS in a variety of ways.”
Trail enhancement and renovation projects in the last year include the completion of Cathedral Rock Trail, Soldiers Pass Trail, Little Horse Bridge Replacement, and Schuerman Mountain Trail, as well as many others.
“The City’s steady commitment to supporting the health of our trail system has been an important catalyst to the remarkable support from the business community”, stated Dick Williams, SRRTF president. “The Trail Keeper program is a testament how community collaboration can accomplish big things, such as enhancing and preserving our beloved Red Rock trails.”
About
The Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund’s mission is to gather donations to maintain and enhance the non-motorized National Forest trails in the greater Sedona area, and to educate the public regarding their use and management. With the support of residents, businesses, government entities and non-profits, the SRRTF has raised in excess of $3.5 million since 2014. SRRTF is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and an official partner of the US Forest Service Red Rock Ranger District. Learn more about the SRRTF at redrocktrailfund.org.
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