Category: Uncategorized

Why a less-than-stellar time can still be a good race

I saw all ages and sizes. Some were fast. Some were walkers. Some were kids while others were well past retirement age. Men and women. Friends running as a group. More than a few had never run a race on trails. And several were from out-of-state.

That says a lot about the value of Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness. On a day when most people were sleeping in, overdosing on Netflix or bumming out at the lake, a few hundred people got up early, gathered at the park and ran their tails off. There’s something beautiful and amazing about that, and it wonderfully illustrates what a gem Turkey Mountain is to Tulsa. I can only hope more people will see and recognize that.

I would probably be nauseated starting my run from here.

I am thankful that the Kaiser Foundation has secured most of the privately owned land in our urban wilderness. I just do not want this huge sore oozing sore put within sight and and sound of our peaceful forest playground. The land south of 61st Street could very well be the next target. Development there also means the roads are widened, and Turkey Mountain loses.

turkey mountain: development concerns Mountain bikers urged to work with developers of project

Ribela said the next step for local Turkey Mountain enthusiasts is to share their concerns with city councilors.

“(We need) to let our public officials know we really don’t want the mall there,” he said. “If it went somewhere else, we would be fine with that.”

A Tale of Two Maps

As you can see, a couple of the trails are going to be affected. The vast majority of the wilderness area, on both public and private land, will not be touched. The Simon Properties development will be on a small part of the western-most edge of the area. The INCOG trail map puts things in perspective best: it shows how large the entire area is compared to the size of this private lot. It also very clearly shows who owns what land — some of it is city, some of it is private, some of it is owned by the YMCA.

You can also see a lot of light grey dividing lines.  These are individual lots.  Who exactly owns these lots, what’s the zoning for them and are they in danger of being purchased and developed as well?  We’ll answer that next.

Many Continue Fight Against Proposed Outlet Mall Near Turkey Mountain

“You have so many children that enjoy the trails every day and to have that huge structure up there it would just completely alter the traffic flow and the landscape,”