So Payson last week declared the second week in June to be “National Recreation Highline Trail Week.”

Payson Ranger District Recreational Manager Angie Abel was on hand to dole out official shirts to members of the Payson council, who immediately got into serious political negotiations about swapping out for the right sizes. For future reference: Vice Mayor Suzy Tubbs is a small.

The resolution celebrated Abel’s achievement in rounding up a million dollars in grants to reengineer the 68-mile-long Highline Trail, which is now one of the top riding and hiking trails in the state. It also includes a chunk of the Arizona Trail and hosts several major mountain biking and long-distance hiking races annually.

Abel is now trying to pull off a similar feat by creating a connected, reengineered perimeter trail all around Payson. The council has already bought into the vision by allocating $300,000 to design two new trailheads, with parking and educational elements to get parked hikers out of the neighborhoods and onto the trails.

But Payson will have to pick up the pace – or maybe break into a run — to catch up to the Pine Strawberry Fuels Reduction Committee.

The nonprofit volunteer group has submitted a grant application for a Transportation Alternatives (TA) grant through the Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation to build a major new trailhead, having completed its own perimeter trail. The connected set of trails in Pine has both helped lure tourists to town and provided a safer way for firefighters to protect the town from wildfires.

The group couldn’t get an application prepared in 2023 in the four-week window available. So they convinced the National Forest Foundation to provide a $10,000 grant to LAST Architects in Phoenix to develop a 34-page design for the trailhead.

Meanwhile, Abel and Payson Head Ranger Matt Paciorek completed all the initial environmental work on the site and connected trails. Paciorek even signed the crucial decision memo authorizing the new Bradshaw Trailhead while out on the trail, posed with members of the trail building crew.

As a result, the group was ready to move when this year’s TA grants were opened on March 24. The initial application passed screening review on May 5 and the final application was submitted last week, according to Michael Browning, the group’s grants coordinator.

The group has also raised the $12,438 local match for the grant. TA funding totals about $8 million annually in Arizona – excluding Maricopa and Pima counties, which get the bulk of most transportation funding statewide through other sources.

The Bradshaw trailhead will connect to the Arizona Trail on the 21-mile Pine Loop Trail, providing easier access to facilities for through-hikers on the 800-mile-long Arizona National Scenic Trail.

Arizona Trails Association Executive Director Matthew Nelson wrote a letter of support for the grant, saying “Currently, there is one primary trailhead and public access portal to a very popular segment of the Arizona Trail nearby – the Pine Trailhead on the east side of SR 87 (approximately 1⁄2-mile from the proposed Bradshaw Trailhead. This trailhead is often filled to capacity and does not meet the current recreational demands of the area. In addition, no protected highway crossing exists exist to help trail users cross SR 87. The new Bradshaw Trailhead is needed to serve the current and future anticipated visitor needs, and to provide safe access to trails west of the highway.”

The trailhead will include parking, signage and structures, making it something of a community use facility. A pump track mountain bike skills area will be developed adjacent to the trailhead.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund estimates that outdoor recreation produces 6.5 million jobs and contributes $730 billion to the national economy. An estimated one in 20 Americans works in the outdoor recreation industry. The share of jobs is much higher in Rim Country, which is critically dependent on outdoor recreation.

An estimated 50-70 million Americans use hiking trails every year.

One study by the National Park Service found that people who exercise regularly in the out-of-doors filed 14% fewer health insurance claims – including 41% fewer claims costing more than $5,000.

One University of Arizona study in 2020 concluded that each nonmotorized trail visit generates $100 in spending. Sedona has 400 miles of trails that attract 2.7 million visitors and generates a “total consumer surplus” for the community of $1.8 billion annually. The iconic Cathedral Rock Trail alone generates $27 million.

So Payson has invested in trails after years of decline in the state of the once-vaunted Payson Area Trails System.

But it’s going to have a hard time overtaking those Pine volunteers.