Some trails, picnic areas and campgrounds on Mount Lemmon may close in winter, and you're going to have to take your trash down the mountain with you when you go, under a U.S. Forest Service proposal.

The Coronado National Forest has released a proposed five-year program to reduce operating costs and consolidate services in all five districts of the Coronado's "sky island" preserves.

No facilities are slated for closure, but use of some areas would be seasonally restricted and some picnic sites removed, even in the most heavily visited areas of the Santa Catalina Ranger District, which manages Mount Lemmon and Sabino Canyon.

Faced with growing demand for services and mounting deferred maintenance, the U.S. Forest Service, the agency that manages Southern Arizona's "sky island" recreation areas, also wants to rely more heavily on nonprofit groups and other governments to provide information and services to its visitors.

On Mount Lemmon, it proposes to shut down its Palisades Visitor Center from September to May and is seeking a partner, possibly Pima County, to fill the gap. Pima County recently built a new community and visitor center in Summerhaven, a few miles up the mountain, and is staffing it mostly with volunteers.

Early discussions on a possible merger bore no fruit, said Heidi Schewel, Forest Service spokeswoman, who said her agency is still open to combining roles with the county.

Seasonal closures of trails and picnic areas should not have much effect, said Schewel. The Santa Catalina District has always closed some high-country recreation areas in winter and lower, hotter facilities in summer. The gates leading to trails and facilities in Marshall Gulch, on Mount Bigelow, atop Mount Lemmon and in Bear Wallow are routinely locked when the snow falls, she said.

Under the proposal, Rose Canyon and Spencer Canyon campgrounds would close from Oct. 16 to April 20. Rose Canyon Lake would still be available for fishing.

Three picnic sites — Marshall Gulch, Box Elder and Alder — would close for the winter, as would the Mount Lemmon/Aspen, Mount Bigelow and Butterfly trails. The toilet at Mount Bigelow would be removed.

The Forest Service also wants to remove trash bins from picnic areas closest to Summerhaven. Removal of the bins from Loma Linda and Marshall Gulch picnic areas would leave visitors with few options for depositing trash, other than hauling it back down the mountain in their cars.

Seasonal closures would affect other units of the forest. Most of the high-country campgrounds in the Chiricahua Mountains would close for winter and lower elevations, such as Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoons, would shut down for summer.

The Forest Service also hopes to run visitor centers at Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains and an interpretive site at Kentucky Camp in the Santa Ritas with volunteer groups.

It is looking for partners to operate Peppersauce Campground near Oracle and the Whipple Picnic Ground, possibly the Smithsonian Institution, which operates nearby Whipple Observatory in the Santa Rita Mountains.

In heavily visited Sabino Canyon, where most visitors ride the tram, hike, jog or bike, 25 picnic sites and three toilet buildings are slated for removal.

"The use patterns have changed," said Schewel. One unshaded group picnic area in Upper Sabino, where 20 picnic tables and a toilet will be taken out, hasn't hosted a picnic in decades, she said.

"People used to drive in, picnic, hang out. Now people ride the shuttle for scenic value; we have exercise walkers and hikers, nature walkers." Most meals are eaten under the ramadas at the Visitors Center, she said.

In surveys conducted for the plan, some folks favored wilderness experiences and some wanted more amenities, but "everyone wants better, cleaner restrooms," said Celeste Gordon, recreation staff officer.

The Forest Service is also considering a use fee for the popular camping area at West Turkey Creek in the Chiri-cahuas and a fee for cars entering the picnic area at Carr Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista.

The forest was named for Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who journeyed in 1540 to Zuni and Hopi villages through part of what is today the Coronado National Forest.

The Coronado's mountain ranges are called "sky islands" because they tower more than 5,000 feet above the grasslands and deserts below, and because some of their plant and animal species "can best be described as having been marooned by the last ice age," says the forest's Web site.

"As the cloak of forests and woodlands that covered the area during the Pleistocene was pushed back by a gradual warming, remnants clung to the highlands."

Proposed changes to the Coronado National Forest's recreation plan are at www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/rfa

Copies may be requested by calling 388-8300.

To comment about the plan:

Phone: 388-8300

E-mail: comments-southwestern-coronado@fs.fed.us

Fax: 388-8305 (ATTN: RFA)

By mail: RFA, Coronado National Forest

300 W. Congress St.,

Tucson, AZ 85701