Occupy Our Trails!

Dr. von Braun, Rocket Scientist

Most towns that I know of have municipal golf courses. Golf is a standard part of a community's infrastructure. We need a quality golf course to make our town complete, so that our check-off list of "necessary amenities" does not have a gaping hole in it. Although I myself am not a golfer, I do support the county's efforts to improve the golf course. It clearly is in need of a major overhaul.

On a warm spring day, it's a joy to see the grass turning green and golfers out swinging away on the course. I've tried golf, but it's an extremely difficult sport. I didn't do well. I was a state champion bowler in my youth. I was told that bowlers often do well at golf ... not so much in my experience.

As I age, I expect that I will give golf another try.

Last night, the Parks and Rec Board held a meeting to discuss potential Phase I design options for golf course improvement and the need for possible trail realignment. It was a good meeting that included a wide range of public views. The views ranged from "don't cut down any trees" to "trails should not be near the course because of 'safety' concerns."

The Board Chair Robert Walker noted that the community needed to work together for a good outcome. Early in the meeting the chair indicated he didn't think that a citizen stakeholder committee was necessary to advise on the project because the Board had their own subcommittees, but later in the meeting he called for volunteers who would be willing to help advise the project. This item needs to be clarified. Will there be some type of citizens committee?

"Safety" was brought up ad nauseam as a justification for realigning trails. It was revealed during the meeting that indeed there were safety issues along Diamond Drive where balls bounce out into the road and hit cars.

There were no identified problems that anyone could recall of trail users being hurt. (Reports I've seen from other cities with trails near courses also indicate no issue, when proper mitigating design procedures are followed.)

There may be many good reasons to re-align the trails, but "safety" from flying balls doesn't appear to be one of them, especially when mitigating practices are well known and very effective such as fencing, bushes and berms, to name just a few methods. Trails and Golf Courses peacefully coexist in close proximity all over this country. Are we in Los Alamos so unique that we can't do it?

Craig Martin, the Open Space Specialist for the county, noted that under Option "B" (which calls for a relatively significant expansion of the course) the trails would likely need to be moved from their current rim locations to the bottom of the canyon. This move would add a lot more elevation change and slopes to the trails which might keep some hikers/runners from easily using the trails. This could also make a trail more icy and snow packed, it was noted.

I'm told that the Course Architect will refine the designs and add layouts for the trail re-alignments. It will be helpful to see what the Architect has in mind. There will be a public meeting (TBA) that will present this next draft of the design.

Personally, my recommendation would be to expand the golf course, but modify the proposed design so that the trails stay on the rim (or just slightly off the rim). Maybe trails move from their current alignments, but they don't drop into the canyon. I am certain that the Course Architect hired by the county can "make it work." There are published guidelines for designing trails in close proximity to golf courses. Making this work is not rocket science!

The Capital Projects & Facilities Department, who is managing the Golf Course Improvements project, is asking for public input. (I also assume that if you would like to have a more formal advisory role you can also contact this email.)

Contact: cpfd@lacnm.us

The webpage for this project is:
http://www.losalamosnm.us/projects/capital/Pages/GolfCourseImprovement.aspx