Category: TUWC

November 3rd – November 8th Subaru’s Leave No Trace traveling trainers will be in Tulsa!

For the Hot Spot activation, the Subaru/Leave No Trace Team will be at Turkey Mountain working with local educators and community leaders on a variety of workshops and events, including opportunities for community involvement. 

The Leave No Trace Hot Spot Program aims to provide visitors, land managers, volunteers, and the local community with tools and education to reduce severe impacts in natural areas and ensure a sustainable recreation future for all.

Hot Spots, including Turkey Mountain, are areas identified as suffering from severe human-related impacts that can thrive again with Leave No Trace solutions. Each location receives a unique, site-specific blend of programs aimed at a healthy and sustainable recovery. Since 2010, Leave No Trace has conducted over 100 Hot Spots in national parks and forests, state parks, city parks, and more to set these areas on a path to recovery.

Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness is located just south of downtown Tulsa, OK.  It encompasses 300 acres of designated ‘urban wilderness,’ providing a slew of nearby recreational opportunities to the residents of Tulsa.  Its dense canopy of hardwoods instills a feeling of wildness even within the city limits.  Visitors are able to explore miles of trails by foot, bike, and even horseback.  Nearby residents utilize the trail system for walking, running, and dog-walking, among other activities.  The relatively new park has become increasingly popular and, with its very compact nature, has begun to experience considerable impacts from high use.  These impacts include trail widening and erosion, pet waste and other pet-related impacts, and impacts to vegetation. For the Hot Spot activation, the Subaru/Leave No Trace Team will be at Turkey Mountain leading a variety of workshops, outreach programs and community events, including opportunities for community involvement.

*Turkey Mountain is located on the ancestral lands of the Osage, Muscogee (Oklahoma), Caddo, Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux), and possibly other tribes*

---

---

Please note: ✅ = Open To Public, 🎓= Educators, 🔒= By Invitation

Day 1 • Wednesday November 3rd

✅ Leave No Trace Online Awareness Course
This free online course is available anytime. No registration needed.

Participants who are new to Leave No Trace or have not had Leave No Trace training in recent years are encouraged to complete the self-paced (30 – 45 minute) Leave No Trace Online Awareness Course in advance. 

🔒 Introductory Stakeholder Meeting (by invitation)

🔒Area Impacts Tour

---

Day 2 • Thursday November 4th

---

Day 3 • Friday November 5th

🔒 Effective Communication of Leave No Trace
(This interactive workshop is by invitation only.)

This workshop is geared toward those who engage in public outreach, education, interpretation, guiding, etc.

---

Day 4 • Saturday November 6th

---

Day 5 • Sunday November 7th

Free day

---

Day 6 • Monday November 8th

🔒 Leave No Trace Action Planning Meeting / Hot Spot Wrap Up (by invitation)

---

Join us for Monarch Media Monday, an hour-long panel discussion with the following experts:

• Stacie Martin – Director of Horticulture at Gathering Place, to learn how to establish and maintain prairies, Incorporate native plants and Milkweed, weed control, and more. 
• Cheryl Cheadle – Blue Thumb volunteer coordinator as she discusses how you can create quality pollinator habitat on a smaller scale, Yard by Yard.
• Jane Breckenridge – Owner Euchee Butterfly Farm and director of the Tribal Alliance for Pollinators will share her expertise on Monarch Basics and the status of the Monarch population.

There will be time for questions and answers at the end of the panel discussion.

As we begin to discuss the River Parks Authority Turkey Mountain Master Plan created by MVVA one of the first things that must be done is undergrowth, fallen leaves and invasive species removal. There are a number of ways to do this. Manually, with grazing animals (like goats) or the most cost effective and natural option – fire. 

Without man made controls Oklahoma’s landscape would regularly cycle through a burn period allowing for the landscape to remove dead plants that were choking out part of the ecosystem and as a result would be a much healthier lush area as the foliage grew back.. This is apparent around Oklahoma in places like the Tallgrass Prairie, Deep Fork Wildlife Refuge and Cookson Hills. 

The reality is that by stopping this natural cycle Turkey Mountain has become a tinder box the dead wood and leaves actually are a huge danger and need to come out!  We also have invasive species choking out native plants. 

What about the animals? 

If you know anything about the TUWC you know that we consider humans as visitors to the space wildlife call home. The last thing we want to do is evict them! 

Controlled burns are done in small segments and set and watched by trained experts. By doing small areas at a time this allows the wildlife to safely evacuate. Where if we wait until a loose ember or lightning strike happens there will be no control and it will likely burn a much larger area. 

The TUWC is excited to see the implementation of the Master Plan and looks forward to the future of Turkey Mountain! 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Last night the citizens of Tulsa got to see the first ideas of what Turkey Mountain can hope to look like going forward.

While we understand that as of yet this plan is a dream with zero funding committed, we are delighted with what we are seeing. Turkey Mountain as we currently know it is being left largely untouched by programming.

The careful consideration from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates’ team working together with many experts including Progressive Trail Design, assures us that we are in the hands of respected trail builders and conservationists. As each piece of this plan was unveiled we were pleased to see how much input from the community was utilized.

By incorporating the other regional parks this is a chance for our Urban Wilderness experience to expand! With the revitalization of Bales Park to house picnic facilities and a community green space for performances, this gives park users some of the things they have wanted to see on Turkey Mountain Proper while not detracting from the more intensive recreational trail users.

We are happy to see the inclusion of accessibility options for those of all ability levels to bring the wilderness experience to users of all walks of life.

Since the early days of the TUWC forming, Mooser Creek has been a big concern. We are thrilled to see the health of this creek take a prime role as it is one of the last natural, pristine streams in Tulsa County. The inclusion of many suggestions from the RD Flanagan study is a wonderful thing to see.

We hope the citizens of Tulsa are as enthusiastic as we are about the opportunities this plan could hold for our beloved Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness. An urban wilderness park of this caliber can only boost the appeal of Tulsa to live, work and play!

####