Scenic America recently delivered a second conservation workshop for the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway, the second in a series of workshops that are part of an agreement with the America’s Byways Resource Center.

The workshop was originally requested by Carla Ward, from the Turquoise Trail Association and Laurie Franz, the New Mexico State Scenic Byway Coordinator in order to address visual quality issues along the byway, which runs N-S along Highway 14 east of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  

Sharon Berg, co-founder of the Turquoise Trail Preservation Trust (TTPT) was asked to serve as the local host and project manager for the workshop.  As an active group in the region concerned with natural resource protection, the TTPT proved to be a natural partner in the effort and were very successful in securing attendance to the workshop from key stakeholders and local political officials in the area, as well as representation from the New Mexico Governor’s office.

The workshop included a local panel discussion organized by Sharon Berg, that included presentations by Mike Smith, a local author presenting information on the history of the area, Mike Campbell from the TTPT, who discussed future opportunities in the area for recreation trails, and Jim Lindeman from the Campbell Ranch Corporation who presented master plan concepts for an eco-friendly residential development being proposed along the byway.

The workshop was intended to help the local byway understand the steps involved in protecting scenic quality while helping participants to define the valued visual character along the byway.   Along with numerous group exercises, the workshop included a byway field trip along the southern section of the byway.   It was evident that the workshop generated a renewed interest in protecting and enhancing the visual character along the byway, with many participants agreeing to forge new partnership efforts towards common goals in the near future.

A complete summary report of the workshop will be developed soon by Brad Cownover, Director of Scenic Conservation for Scenic America, who facilitated the workshop along with Bonnie Hundrieser, from the Resource Center.

Check back here soon for the complete report.