[Volunteers_fosm] Fwd: NEWS RELEASE USDA Forest Service begins renovation of the Nine Mile Picnic Area on the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands

Wed Jun 21 06:34:19 MDT 2023

The Challenge Trail remains open during Nine Mile Picnic Area Renovation.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: FS-Cibola PAO <SM.FS.CibolaPAO at usda.gov>
Date: Tue, Jun 20, 2023 at 12:12 PM
Subject: NEWS RELEASE USDA Forest Service begins renovation of the Nine
Mile Picnic Area on the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National
Forest & National Grasslands
To:

*NEWS RELEASE*

[image: Forest Service Shield]

*Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands*

2113 Osuna Road NE

Albuquerque, NM 87113

(505) 346-3900

www.fs.usda.gov/cibola

www.facebook.com/cibolanf

twitter.com/cibola_nf

USDA Forest Service begins
Renovation of the
Nine Mile Picnic Area  *Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands*

*ALBUQUERQUE, NM – June 20, 2023 *– On May 31st, the Sandia Ranger District
began renovation of the Nine Mile Recreation Site. Funds for renovation
come from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to support various
projects across New Mexico and Arizona. These projects are funded from the
Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) established by the Great American
Outdoors Act.

“Opportunities like the Great American Outdoors Act allows for major
reinvestments back into our treasured sites like Nine Mile that otherwise
would not be possible. This project has our staff excited as the planned
improvements will welcome visitors for generations to come.” said Crystal
Powell, the District Ranger for the Sandia Ranger District.

Since 2021, the Forest Service has completed more than 122 deferred
maintenance projects across 53 national forests in 25 states with more than
880 additional projects currently funded and in various stages of
completion.

The Nine Mile Picnic Area is a beautiful site nestled within large aspen
groves that offers opportunities for hiking, nature viewing, and
picnicking. This site is located four miles before the Sandia Crest
Recreation Area along the Turquoise Trail Scenic Byway on Highway 536.
Improvements to the site include repairs to the picnic area road,
installation of new picnic tables, restrooms, and hardened walkways. These
renovations will enhance the experience of our recreationalists by
increasing the sustainability of the picnic area and improving ADA
accessibility. After construction Nine Mile will have nine picnic sites,
one group picnic site, and will serve as an access point to nearby trails
in the area.

“We have been looking forward to breaking ground on this project since it’s
conception in 2021. To help facilitate a speedy renovation and grand
re-opening to the public, we ask our visitors to continue to respect the
closure of the site until it reopens.” Said Julie Padilla, the Recreation
Staff Officer for the Sandia Ranger District.

Forest Service Trail 5233 also known as the “Challenge Trail” passes by the
picnic area will remain open for use, however, trail users should be aware
of the increased presence of construction traffic to the site and should
stay on the designated trail. Observing this will help protect the visitors
to the area as well as those actively working in the site. Construction is
expected to conclude within the next two months, with the site reopening
shortly after completion.

This project supports the recent announcement by both the Department of
Agriculture and Interior proposing a combined $2.8 billion in funding for
Fiscal Year 2024 to improve infrastructure, recreation facilities, public
lands access, and land and water conservation as the legislation enters its
third year out of five.

For additional information about the Forest Service implementation of the
Great American Outdoors Act, visit:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/gaoa.

The Great American Outdoors Act continues to address the over $7 billion
backlog of deferred maintenance on National Forests and Grasslands. The
Forest Service currently administers more than 370,000 miles of roads,
13,400 bridges, 159,000 miles of trails, 1,700 dams and reservoirs, 1,500
communications sites, 27,000 recreation sites and 40,000 facilities of
other types across the United States and Puerto Rico.

*###*

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