Local trails are a top priority for the three new rangers at the Red Rock Ranger District.
Bret Edstrom and Michael Suggs will be working with new district recreation manager Adam Barnett to ensure completion of maintenance and improvements to as many as 15 Sedona sites by the end of the year.
“The Coconino National Forest area surrounding Sedona provides world-class recreational opportunities,” said Barnett, who succeeded the retired Jennifer Burns last month. “I am so glad to see that the local community is engaged in supporting the sustainable management of this special place.”
Barnett, who came to the district from the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests in California, looks to put the finishing touches on restrooms at Oak Creek Vista and Cathedral Rock, where a path connecting the trailhead to the city of Sedona’s new parking lot is also nearly completed.
“There will also be many volunteer work days and projects for locals to get involved with when the work season picks up again in the autumn,” he added.
Friends of the Forest volunteers will be working with Suggs, the new lead recreation technician, as well as Arizona Conservation Corps members to improve drainage on Bell Rock Pathway and renovate tread on trails affected by the Slide Fire two years ago — including the A.B. Young and West Fork trails.
“I’ll be working directly with a lot of the slew of volunteers that help out a lot in our district,” said Suggs, who will oversee the upcoming installation of new kiosks and signs at trailheads along Forest Road 152 such as Brins Mesa, Devils Bridge and Vultee Arch north of Dry Creek Road. “They’ll be mostly my eyes and ears on the ground when I can’t get out.”
While getting his master’s degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University. Suggs implemented the first Preventive Search and Rescue program on the Humphrey’s Peak Trail in the Coconino National Forest.
“So, when recreationists come to our day-use sites, they can look at our kiosks with our maps and see, ‘OK, this is where we are, this is where we want to go [and] here is some information about safety,’” he said.
Other improvements to information kiosks will be completed in Oak Creek Canyon sites such as Manzanita Campground and Indian Gardens, whose visitor center should also be upgraded by the fall.
Edstrom, the district’s new recreation technician and trails coordinator, has previously been a trails supervisor, volunteer coordinator, park and wilderness ranger. He was an interpretive and back country ranger for the National Park Service at Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, among other Southwest sites.
Edstrom said he is excited to begin work on the Chimney Rock, Thunder Mountain, Andante and Sugarloaf trails between Dry Creek and Soldier Pass roads.
The Red Rock Trail Fund and Sedona Chamber of Commerce are both funding not only enhanced signage, but also improved drainage and more sustainable alignments of routes in the six-mile loop in West Sedona south of the Secret Mountain Wilderness.
“Bret is an avid hiker, cyclist, backpacker and … is very motivated to be involved in such a dynamic area with a large support base for the trail system,” Barnett said. “Bret looks forward to meeting and working with all entities that are involved with the program and hopes to bring in new faces and ideas as well.”
