WILL CONGRESS CLOSE YOUR TRAILS? [Barbara Boxer's California Wild Heritage Act]

BIKEMAG.COM ^ | July 10, 2003 | Vernon Felton

[fight_truth_decay]

A few months back I reported that Gale Norton (Secretary of the Interior) had announced that her department would no longer inventory and classify vast tracts of land as federally-designated wilderness. Actually, Norton didn’t so much as announce her decision, as allow it to leak out in a few letters sent to conservative congressmen. It was a fairly typical move from an administration that has taken great steps to cut back regulations designed to protect the environment. Back in Reagan’s day, there’d have been a press release explaining how the proposed deregulation would give power back to local governments and help spur economic development. Under Bush Jr., those proclamations are largely absent. Bush’s White House (as the Nike ad folks might put it) just does it.

This trail near Lake Tahoe will be closed to mountain bikers if Boxer's bill passes.

Environmentalists are seeing red as they watch their hard-fought gains slip away; everyone in the oil and mining business is jubilant; the American public is busy watching some "reality-based" television program; and mountain bikers are, interestingly, generally in favor of seeing wilderness go the way of the T-Rex. Since 1984, federally-designated wilderness has been off-limits to bicycles--as a result, few mountain bikers jump for joy when they hear that another million-odd acres have been closed to them.

Well, to get back to my point. Gale Norton made it clear that the Department of the Interior will no longer be in the business of creating new federally-designated wilderness. That, however, doesn’t mean that the wilderness story is over. Congress still has the power to designate land as wilderness. In fact, there is legislation in Congress right now (Senator Barbara Boxer's California Wild Heritage Act) that proposes classifying 2.5-million acres of California public land as federal wilderness.

Hundreds of miles of popular trails throughout the state will be closed to mountain bikes if Boxer's bill passes. Many of these trails were built and have been maintained by mountain bikers for years now. This is why IMBA has forged ahead with its Wild Rides program. By hosting a series of rides on these threatened trails, the advocacy group hopes to raise awareness of what we're all at risk of losing here.

As it stands, IMBA is in favor of supporting more than half of the areas in the bill as wilderness, but contends that wilderness designation on the other half of the acreage is uncalled for—this land contains significant mountain bike trails and could be preserved from development without classifying it as wilderness and, therein, banning bikes.

What can you do? The easiest thing is to log onto IMBA's web site (http://www.imba.com/) and add your name to the petition going to Senator Diane Feinstein's office. (Feinstein is a California Senator still considering her position on the issue.) The petition states IMBA's position and by signing it, you help prove that there are more than just a handful of mountain bikers who will be sorely pissed to see these trails closed.

Of course, some of you may be reading this and thinking, “Why bother? Signing a petition won’t solve anything.” I’d ramble on about why that attitude is misplaced, but IMBA’s Advocacy Director, Jenn Dice, does a pretty good job of summing it up.

Says Dice, “There’s really no other way to affect change than to pick up the phone and make a call or by writing a letter. If we sit back and do nothing but watch, we stand to lose a terrible lot of trails. Mountain bikers can’t afford to be apathetic—not if they expect to have trails to ride in the future.”

If you're interested in going for a really good ride on some of these trails, check out the list of scheduled events on the IMBA web site and register. The rides are open to the public.

[fight_truth_decay]

Cyclists enjoy the fine riding on a trail in Meiss Meadows, southwest of Lake Tahoe.

CLICK HERE for trails that will be lost to the Wilderness.

And now we jump to the East coast into Maine where the town of Millinocket is striking back at the Tinseltown elite who support the creation of a 3.2 million-acre Maine Woods National Park. Residents along with town Manager, Gene Conlogue, believe that the proposed logging and development restrictions will destroy the local economy. Film actors who serve on the park's "advisory panel" are Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Holly Hunter, Robert Redford, Ted Danson and Meryl Streep. Town manager, Conlogue, said, This park would be an economic catastrophe for us. Why do some stars get politically meddlesome?

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[goldstategop]

Liberals believe the parks are their private property, that's why. They believe in keeping the riff-raff and street bums out. Is that good enough for you? When it comes to the environment, they are the ultimate elitists.

[CyberAnt]

This isn't all she's up to - I just got an email today from her wanting my support for a new bill she and Diane are plugging - she wants to spend federal money for redoing the missions in CA. Can you believe that! I ask her: what happened to the deficit ..??

[john316]

Being a novice backpacker, I realy dislike the way the mountiain bikers treat the backcounty. There guidelines/rules of use that, in my experience, most MB'ers don't follow.

[goldstategop]

There are MBers who aren't considerate of others who share the trails with them. Most however just want to enjoy the offroad world like every one else, with appreciation for the rights of others and for Nature.

[john316]

Good point..I guess I shouldn't just lump them all together.

[Redbob]

And the granola-eaters simply don't want anyone else to use "their" little woods.

Nevermind that much of the Western "wilderness" areas are rock-strewn wastelands that it would take a nuclear device to damage - they simply don't want humans to contaminate the landscape.
Even though most Sierra Clubbers never wander more than a five-minute hike from the nearest Starbucks, they don't want you using your SUV to carry you out to where you can actually appreciate the natural wonders of this country

[concerned about politics]

Liberals believe the parks are their private property, that's why.

There was a thread a while back showing pictures of their vacation resorts they've built on "protected land."
Only THEY have the right to vacation in those pristeen areas and wallow in its bliss, of course. The great unwashed would be arrested and fined for invading their luxurious vacation resort areas.

[Clean_Sweep]

Well geezzze man look at the pictures! It looks like a nuke went off there. Those damm bikers wreak everything they touch. One picture even had a couple of people in it using the place.

[concerned about politics]

wants to spend federal money for redoing the missions in CA

Religiously based missions?

[TroutStalker]

Right-of-Way Wrangles -- States Claim Passages Through Federal Wilderness [Enviros Alarmed]

[BibChr]

Environmentalists are seeing red ....

Ah. The truth finally comes out.

Dan

[Orlando]

BOXER again !! People of California, please VOTE this Feminist OUT of POWER, she's super DANGEROUS. She knows
that alot of Fathers were going there to Relax :) I think
that's a joke, but not sure with BOXER thinking anymore.

[CyberAnt]

They're run by some branch of the Catholic Church - I believe! I've been to a few of the missions, and they always have priests there, but I don't know if just one sect owns all the churches or if different sects handle different churches.

[muleskinner]

Boxer is one of the luckiest politicians ever. The ones who could beat her like their congressional seats and she always seems to end up fighting a member of the Republican "bum of the month" club.

[StopGlobalWhining]

The parasites are at it again.

[Pylot]

We have learned that many so called "wilderness advocacy groups" are back door funded (willing idiot approach) by drug cartels.

We know that some national forests that were designated wilderness (meaning you can only walk or horse ride in) are actually very dangerous for US Citizens because of the drug activity in remote regions now.

Congress (especially the dimocrats) will take money from anyone and do their will.

Let your congress critters know they are supporting the drug cartels by designating more wilderness areas!

[Prof Engineer]

Being a novice backpacker, I realy dislike the way the mountiain bikers treat the backcounty. There guidelines/rules of use that, in my experience, most MB'ers don't follow.

I'm a very experienced backpacker. I can't stand the way horses and their riders tear the place up. I'd much rather see a typical biker than typical equestian.

[Fred Hayek]

I'm a novice mountain biker (I do more road and velodrome racing, sometimes on single track with a cyclocross bike). As long a a mountain biker is not trying to leave skidmarks, and is staying on the trail, a mountain biker is going to have much less impact than a horse. But, I'm referencing facts, and environazi liberals use "feelings" (rather nasty at that). I have one environazi neighbor who would go as far as advocating hiking - humans shouldn't infect the wildersness. However this twit also likes "radical depopulation schemes".