"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."--Robert Frost
Just back from New Hampshire taking care of some family stuff. Went on a daily hike on the local water supply watershed trails. No water issues here!
Invasive Grass Removal Help Is Coming
Met with Terry Rozema (Marana Town Manager) and Heath Viscovi-Chiordi (Town Manager Assistant) on 10/22/21 and chatted about various items and one was the invasion of bufflegrass and soft feather pappusgrass in the Tortolita Mountains a result of the monsoon rains this summer. They came up with the idea of using Arizona Corrections Department inmates to assist with removing these invasive grass species.
I am pleased to report that this program will be put in place beginning on 11/22 & 11/23. If all goes well, this program will be extended into the winter months. Rest assured that Marana Park & Recreation supervisors and Arizona Department of Correction officers will be monitoring this work closely.
Thanks to Marana for coming up with this great idea to get much needed help to remove invasive grass species to reduce the potential for wildfires in the Tortolitas and protect our beautiful saguaros.
More Planes
The early morning circling of planes above Dove Mountain is back. Many have complained of aircraft noise on 11/3 and 11/4. TA has contacted the Marana Airport Manager again and filed a complaint with the FAA-Scottsdale. Here is the text of that complaint:
I live in the Dove Mountain area of Marana, AZ which is located near the Marana Airport, Pinal AirPark and Silverbell Helicopter Port. On October 20 & 21, 2021, myself and several residents were wakened by aircraft circling around Dove Mountain from 4 AM to 6 AM. I alerted Marana officials of this and received an email from Barbara Hempel (Marana Airport Manager) indicating these aircraft were for night military parachute training. Marana has reached out to the operators of these flights to recommend that they stay away from residential areas. The flights stopped for a while but on November 3 and 4, 2021 the same type of aircraft were circling around Dove Mountain from 4 AM to 6 AM. On behalf of the residents of Marana, please put an end to these flights during the early morning hours. We need our sleep! There is plenty of open space in Arizona for this training. Thanks. Mark L. Johnson. mark18trek@gmail.com.
I received response from FAA-Scottsdale indicating that Noise Complaints should be filed on-line at another FAA site and that has been completed.
You too can file a noise complaint with the FAA by clicking on the button below:
CAP Trail Ribbon Cutting
On Saturday, 10/30/21, Marana Parks & Recreation held the official Ribbon Cutting for the CAP Trail-Marana portion. After the ceremony, bikers and runners participated in the Mad CAP Trail Race.
You can learn more about the CAP Trail and other regional connecting trail projects at TA's Good Connections blog.