On Tuesday, Jan. 13, the Colorado Springs City Council wisely chose to transfer ownership of historic Jones Park to El Paso County. This decision ensures that the property will remain open and under local control, giving our citizens and therefore our elected officials power to maintain the property.

The principle of local control was key in the Jones Park transfer; we can clearly manage our own assets better than Denver or D.C. Local elected officials are accountable to their constituents, whereas federal bureaucrats and officials seem to be accountable to nobody. The EPA and U.S. Forest Service, at a fundamental level, would have made poor managers of this particular site, roughly northwest of Cheyenne Canon and accessible by numerous trails and roadways in that area.

Jones Park was originally developed in the 1870s around the time of the founding of Colorado Springs. It was intended to be a rugged tourist destination where visitors could enjoy the splendor of nature in the comfort of log cabin accommodations. This history, coupled with the modern trails and hikes that crisscross the property, make Jones Park a unique part of the local parks patchwork.

The El Paso County Parks Department knows the unique challenges of maintaining the park, as well as the desires of local users of Jones Park, where federal officials are concerned with millions of other acres of land under their management. While El Paso County certainly doesn’t possess the financial resources the national government does, it has appropriated funds specifically for Jones Park.

That the county has set aside $200,000 to maintain and renovate the park demonstrates its commitment to fiscal responsibility and stewardship of this historic asset. The issue of long-term maintenance is crucial for our park system; why purchase an asset if you don’t have the willpower or capacity to maintain it? It is for this very reason we should be prudent about what parcels of land we accept as parks-a very generous reading would say that this is, perhaps, why City Council floundered on Jones Park for so long.

The Jones Park transfer has been a drawn-out issue, and observers have witnessed City Council vacillate for the better part of four months. And while we can and should rightly criticize the council for taking its time making an easy decision, they also deserve praise where it’s due: In an era of gridlock at the city and national level, we should thank our elected officials for making a wise and prudent decision that will pay off in the short- and long-term, so long as federal officials now step aside.

El Paso County’s ownership of Jones Park will also, hopefully, grease the gears of bureaucracy in Washington; as it stands, access to Jones Park via High Drive and other trails that pass through the Bear Creek Watershed is limited by the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

While it’s a complicated legal and policy matter, federal bureaucrats are using an environmental review process to shut out motorized users from the park, preventing access via High Drive, a historic roadway that’s popular with all manner of user groups, including equestrian users, bikers, hikers and motorized groups. Settling the ownership gives Jones Park stability, which should move the NEPA process along. If federal bureaucrats try to further delay the process, our Board of County Commissioners should expend their influence and effort to expedite the process.

The preservation of Jones Park under local control fulfills its vision as a public park that is used and beloved by all those who choose to recreate in this place of breathtaking beauty we’re so lucky to call home.

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Alex Johnson is a lifelong Springs resident and member of the city Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Advisory Board as well as the El Paso County Citizens Outreach Group. You can reach him at alex.johnson1993@gmail.com or on Twitter: @alexjohnsonco.