BLM seeks input on proposed lease to expand Skyline Regional Park

PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on a proposal from the City of Buckeye to lease approximately 640 acres of public land through the Recreation and Public Purposes Act to expand Skyline Regional Park.  

The proposed park additions include new trails, trailheads, staging areas, shaded structures, restrooms, access roads, and parking to enhance and expand recreational experiences in the area. Long term future improvements could include a bike skills area in the varied terrain of the White Tank Mountains foothills that would offer a variety of bike recreation opportunities, such as pump track style courses, BMX challenge courses, flow trails, mountain bike trails of varying difficulty, and training areas for beginners. 

Comments are requested to inform the BLM’s consideration of the lands as physically suited for the proposal, whether the use will maximize the future use or uses of the land, whether the use is consistent with local planning and zoning, and if the use is consistent with State and Federal programs. Following this comment period, BLM will analyze the project in an environmental assessment, which will provide opportunities for further public input. 

The Recreation and Public Purposes Act allows state and local governments and nonprofit organizations to lease public lands at no cost for recreation purposes. 

More information is available in a Notice of Realty Action publishing in tomorrow’s Federal Register, which will open a 45-day public comment period that will close Aug. 23. The notice also withdraws the lands from all other forms of appropriation under the public land laws, except leasing under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws. 

Written comments may be delivered to the BLM Hassayampa Field Office, Attn: Ryan Randell, Land Law Examiner, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85022.