Proposed development near Turkey Mountain has spurred users to form an advocacy group.
The Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition will represent groups of hikers, bikers and others in future development talks.
"It's time for people, for the users to become engaged and to speak up," said TUWC spokesman Tom Neal. "Perhaps we were complacent, we were enjoying what we had and didn't know that there were things at risk."
A proposed outlet mall at Highway 75 and 61st Street was announced last summer. City officials said then it would not impact Turkey Mountain.
Neal says while land owners and developers have been involved in any discussions so far, users have been left out.
TUWC is meant to represent a range of users’ groups, from Tulsa Area Trail Runners — or TATUR — to the Oklahoma Earth Bike Fellowship.
Neal said the group also wants to help take care of Turkey Mountain, which is made up of several parties’ land.
"If trees fall down, for example, on Kaiser land, River Parks is not actually authorized to go over and fix that," Neal said. "We've had volunteers who have addressed it, but wouldn't it be great if we could help broker a working agreement between all the players?"
TUWC is hosting its own Turkey Mountain cleanup day Jan. 17.
