Could nat’l park be in store for Yuma?

Preliminary research takes place at Quartermaster Depot area

Two employees of the U.S. National Park Service’s office in Denver visited Yuma earlier this month for research on a “very preliminary” proposal to turn Colorado River (formerly Quartermaster Depot) State Historic Park into a national park, the Yuma Sun learned Friday.

Charles Flynn, executive director of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, said the representatives of the park service’s Denver office spent about three days touring and learning about Quartermaster Depot and surrounding attractions.

The report they will produce would be an early step in a long process to make the national park a reality, he said, and if the plan advances further there will be more public involvement. “This is a very preliminary study, and if it came back (for consideration) there would be a more comprehensive one, that would involve significant public outreach,” he said.

The park service’s “reconnaissance study” was requested by a letter sent a year ago by Sen. John McCain, citing its history as a military supply depot and the headquarters for the Bureau of Reclamation’s construction of dams in the Southwest, as well as plans for a new emphasis on the future of the overallocated river.

“It’s sort of telling all the elements of the evolution of the river over the last century, and also basically the supply and demand issue and how are we going to meet the demands in the 21st century of the entire Southwest. He was intrigued by that,” Flynn said.

He said the BOR’s engineering of the river is covered by the park service at Hoover Dam, but as proposed this national park would cover all of that project’s effects, from improved flood control throughout

the region to the loss of natural wetlands to invasive species.

The national park just covers the 10-acre Colorado River state park, not the territorial prison or other parts of the heritage area, Flynn said.

The proposal reflects the 2015 master plan for Quartermaster Depot and Yuma Territorial Prison state historic parks, which proposes doubling the size of the current visitor center and adding a new building for exhibits on the future of the overallocated river, along with new outdoor picnic areas, an amphitheater and a demonstration garden.

The master plan’s “conservative” estimated cost of the proposed improvements at Quartermaster Depot is $9.4 million. It does not mention any intent to seek national park status, but said grants will be sought from all levels of government and the private sector.

“It’s a very ambitious plan, and part of the park service’s analysis is how money would be raised to greatly expand that story. And we would have to bring in private foundations, hopefully local involvement and also federal involvement. We’re nowhere near that point right now.”

The city of Yuma signed an agreement with the state in December giving it control over both of its state parks until 2032. The new name for Quartermaster Depot was announced at the signing ceremony in Yuma, attended by Gov. Doug Ducey.

The city, heritage area and community fundraisers collaborated to keep the parks open after they were included on a list of Arizona State Parks closures in 2009 due to budget cuts.

The centerpiece of the park as envisioned in the master plan would be the Center for the Future of the Colorado River, with a movie theater and interactive exhibits including how-tos about water conservation and a “sim river,” where visitors could make hypothetical water usage decisions while maintaining the river’s flow to the Gulf of California.

“It is a ‘rigged’ game as there is never enough water to go around. The visitor then is forced to choose among competing priorities,” the plan says of this exhibit. “This exercise will engage visitors of all ages and particularly spark interests from Millennials, who will fondly recall playing ‘Sim City’ from their childhood.”

The visitors from the National Park Service work at the Denver Service Center, which is its central planning, design and construction management office. Their reconnaissance study will have to be submitted to the Washington D.C. headquarters for approval, and wend its way through the bureaucratic process.

“I would never want to guess when that study will be done. But at least the process got started,” Flynn said.

And that is only a preliminary document, intended to determine whether the idea merits further study and funding from the federal government.

“If, IF the reconnaissance study comes back and says yes, this is worthy of further discussion, we would have to ask our legislators to submit a bill for a ‘formal special study,’ which has to go through and get approved by Congress,” Flynn said.

He said if the plan moves forward, he and other local leaders will insist that Yuma not be left out of the national park’s narrative, and hopes the Yuma Visitors Center could remain at Quartermaster Depot.

“What’s very important from our local standpoint is we want to make sure Yuma’s story is also told when they talk about the Colorado River. They’re talking about it from the perspective of Los Angeles or Phoenix or Las Vegas, and the particular needs of Yuma, whether it’s the farming community or environmental restoration, all of that,” he said.

Dustin Mylius, marketing manager of the Yuma Visitors Bureau, said having a national park in the area would be huge from a tourism standpoint, and YVB would want the visitor center to remain there if it could. “As folks are checking off national parks on their bucket lists, we would like nothing more than to be able to have Yuma information, information about things people can do while they’re in town, in addition to visiting that park.

“That would be spectacular, and the increase in foot traffic that we would have as a result would bode well in showcasing facets in Yuma and all the things people can do while they’re in town.”

Flynn emphasized it’s early in the process and there’s no telling how it’ll end. “We don’t know if it’ll happen, and in the interim we’ve got the Colorado River State Historic Park, and we’ll push forward to tell the story the best we can with the resources we have. It’s not like we’re going to wait for the national park,” he said.

Yuma Sun staff writer Blake Herzog can be reached at (928) 539-6856 or bherzog@yumasun.com.