Wickenburg Sun
The long-awaited Vulture Mountains Recreation Area is a reality, and improvements to the area are on the horizon.
Last week, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials signed a lease agreement allowing the Parks and Recreation Department to enter into a Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) lease with the BLM Hassayampa Field Office. Under the lease, the parks department will be responsible for managing approximately 1,046 acres of public lands near Wickenburg.
The lease will allow for the construction and operation of recreation facilities, including an entry station, parking, picnic and campground facilities, nature playground, restrooms, ramadas, trailheads and trails, a nature center, an amphitheater, and an OHV staging area in the Vulture Mountains Recreation Area.
The BLM released the final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the lease on Jan. 31, 2019. The final EA analyzes potential environmental impacts of the lease, as well as potential impacts of a right-of-way grant to the Maricopa County Department of Transportation, for modifications to Vulture Mine Road for public safety purposes and access into the new recreation facilities.
