East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

Tijeras Canyon is slated for acquisition by City of
Albuquerque Open Space, while the parcel on La
Madera Rd. is intended for acquisition by
National Forest Service.
4. Albuquerque Public Schools
(APS) / Charter Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools owns several
properties in the Project Area. Some of these
have become schools, while others, such as
those located in the Sandia Knolls subdivision,
remain vacant. Properties with schools located
on them include the East Mountain Charter High
School and the San Antonito Elementary School
just off of North 14, and Montoya Elementary
School and Roosevelt Middle School in Tijeras.
The largest APS parcel is located on the edge of
the National Forest and contains the Sandia
Mountain Natural History Museum. Route 66
Elementary School (Edgewood – Moriarty
Schools) is also within the Plan Area.
5. Bernalillo County and City of
Albuquerque Open Space (BCOS and
AOS)
In addition, the City of Albuquerque and
Bernalillo County own and manage nine Open
Space properties in the area, six to the north and
three to the south of I-40. The County open
space properties — Carlito Springs, Ojito de San
Antonio, Sedillo Ridge, and Sabino Canyon —
were purchased since 1999 through two county
mill levy initiatives that were approved by voters.
The City open space properties — San Antonito,
Gutierrez Canyon, Juan Tomas, and Golden —
have been under its jurisdiction since the late
1960s, mostly through Bureau of Land
Management lease agreements. Tres Pistolas
was a joint purchase by the National Forest , City
of Albuquerque, and Bernalillo County. All of
these Open Space areas are characterized by
striking topography and unique natural or cultural
landscape resources. For a description of each
open space area see the Technical Appendix.
All of the Open Space properties have trails and
other interpretive resources that are used by
members of the community. In February 2002,
the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation
Department (BCPR) initiated a joint effort with the
City of Albuquerque Open Space Division to
develop resource-based management plans for
all County and City open space properties in the
East Mountain Area. The project received a
technical assistance grant from the National Park
Service, which donated a staff facilitator to lead
the effort. The project created a citizen’s steering
committee to guide the process and has drawn
on a broad range of community groups and
organizations to work on documenting existing
conditions, analyzing issues and opportunities,
and developing management plans. The
management plans are in various stages of
completion, summarized in the Technical
Appendix under the individual open space
properties.
Another goal of the project is to develop local
stewards that will watch over the properties and
assist in caretaking. The East Mountain Trails
and Bikeways team has monitored the
management plans as they were formulated and
incorporated their recommendations for trail
facilities into this Master Plan.
Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation also
owns and maintains two community centers and
three parks in the Project Area. Los Vecinos in
Tijeras and Vista Grande on North 14 are
community centers that provide a broad range of
facilities and programs to the area. In addition to
a gym and classrooms, Los Vecinos has a skate
park and large turf area for sports and other
uses. Vista Grande Community Center is the
home of the Performing Arts Center, the Natural
Resources Camp and the East Mountain Little
League. El Refugio Archery Center in Gutierrez
Canyon, Sunflower Meadow Park and Hocket
Park and Whispering Pines Senior Meal Center
in Escabosa are BCPR-owned facilities in the
East Mountain Area. Undeveloped park parcels
can be found in Sandia Knolls, the Sedillo Hill
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EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN