FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Last night the citizens of Tulsa got to see the first ideas of what Turkey Mountain can hope to look like going forward.

While we understand that as of yet this plan is a dream with zero funding committed, we are delighted with what we are seeing. Turkey Mountain as we currently know it is being left largely untouched by programming.

The careful consideration from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates’ team working together with many experts including Progressive Trail Design, assures us that we are in the hands of respected trail builders and conservationists. As each piece of this plan was unveiled we were pleased to see how much input from the community was utilized.

By incorporating the other regional parks this is a chance for our Urban Wilderness experience to expand! With the revitalization of Bales Park to house picnic facilities and a community green space for performances, this gives park users some of the things they have wanted to see on Turkey Mountain Proper while not detracting from the more intensive recreational trail users.

We are happy to see the inclusion of accessibility options for those of all ability levels to bring the wilderness experience to users of all walks of life.

Since the early days of the TUWC forming, Mooser Creek has been a big concern. We are thrilled to see the health of this creek take a prime role as it is one of the last natural, pristine streams in Tulsa County. The inclusion of many suggestions from the RD Flanagan study is a wonderful thing to see.

We hope the citizens of Tulsa are as enthusiastic as we are about the opportunities this plan could hold for our beloved Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness. An urban wilderness park of this caliber can only boost the appeal of Tulsa to live, work and play!

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Feb 20th River Parks Authority invited several groups to meet with representatives from the George Kaiser Family Foundation and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc to participate in round table discussions of what we would like to see as a future for Turkey Mountain.

One of these groups was the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition. First we wanted to make sure that those in the room were aware of who the TUWC is: We are the voices of the collective trail users. We carefully selected members of the TUWC to round out the input alongside the Board of Directors at this meeting. This included educators, cyclists, hikers, runners, birders, and scout leaders. While as usual our individual ideas vary a few things remained constant.

• First and foremost we want to keep Turkey Mountain as a wild space. We were reassured to hear that the two reps from MVVA were also avid outdoor recreation folks.
• We want our trails to stay multi-use trails with as little manicuring as possible. We love our technical trails and relish in the challenges it provides. This being said as most trails were not planned out, many of them are prone to very bad erosion, and we are aware that in order to have more sustainable trails we may need to close and re-route here and there.
• Dedicated staff to implement a woodland management system. Currently there is no one solely tasked with the care and work that goes into Turkey Mountain. Much of the work is done by volunteers. In order to keep the trails in good repair and also care for park patrons we see a need for a dedicated staff.

From our inception the TUWC has asked our members one simple question: “What would you like to see us accomplish in the future?” We took this data and compiled it into categories and were able to present these to MVVA for consideration.

We are not stopping there. Please provide input on the web here . March 7 is a public town hall meeting that we encourage you to make plans to attend. If you have TUWC apparel we encourage you to wear it. If you haven’t purchased yours yet, you can order here (the shop is local and the owner is a trail user too).

All future meetings and details are available on the TUWC Calendar of course we will also be sending out notices about the meetings on Facebook and Instagram as well.

One last thing, if you haven’t joined the TUWC we would like to extend the invitation here and now. Our dues are $5 annually and are  for the calendar year Jan 1 thru Dec 31 and expire each year. It is a very simple process and keeps you in the know. This is how we fund our trail work days. It may sound inexpensive but it is not. We are required to carry insurance to do the work we are known for.

Click here to become a member.

Trying to plan out your year of volunteering? Here is the TUWC Calendar to get you started!

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2019 TUWC Calendar