Craig Martin explains proposed County Open Space Plan to a large crowd gathered Wednesday at PEEC. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Open Space Specialist Craig Martin fields questions during Wednesday’s talk at PEEC. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

For 15 years, an open space management plan for Los Alamos County has been under development. Even though the plan is now finished, the work is not over.

To encourage County Council to approve the open space management plan, the community’s support for the plan needs to be exhibited. The hope is to have the plan edited and presented to the County Council after the budget hearings, which are scheduled to begin April 21, County Open Space Specialist Craig Martin told a large crowd Wednesday night at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC).

Citizens filled the room at PEEC to learn about this open space management plan and ask questions. Martin stressed the community’s support is crucial in getting this plan passed.

“I’m not the hope,” he said. “You are the hope – you need to be behind me on this in order to make this work,” he said.

People can show their support in various ways such as through e-mails or posting comments on an open forum on the Los Alamos County website. Martin’s e-mail address is craig.martin@lacnm.us and the open forum can be found at https:////www.losalamosnm.us/gov/Pages/PublicCommentForum.aspx.

The deadline to submit comments in the forum is the end of this month.

The plan, according to the Los Alamos County website, suggests pulling together a variety of County-owned land under various zoning designations to clearly define the Los Alamos Open Space System.

It is also an umbrella for sub plans for six ecologically-based management units that address Ponderosa Pines, canyons, Mesa-top, the western perimeter, White Rock Canyon and Guaje/Lower Rendija canyons.

The plan’s purpose, Martin said, is to identify key features of open space that make open space attractive to people and outline how to protect them. These key features include vistas and viewpoints, culture and history and neighborhood open space. Protection includes every from dealing with invasive weeds and feral animals such as cows to soil erosion and wild fire mitigation.

Approving this plan would be beneficial because a large part of the county’s identity is having natural outdoors that attract a lot of people, Martin said. He pointed out there are 244 documented species of birds along with 975 species of plant. Furthermore, there are 135 cultural resource sites in open space from ancestral pueblo ruins to historic roads.

“If we want to attract people to Los Alamos,” Martin said. “That’s the way to go.”

It could also be argued it is the way to keep current residents happy. Neighborhood open space is something people keep “most dear to their hearts,” Martin said.

When people list the things they like about living in Los Alamos a large majority of them point out that there is a trail or open space right outside their door, he said.

Having this plan in place “provides effective stewardship for open space,” Martin said.