There’s an article over on NewWest.com about allowing mountain bikes in wilderness areas that’s stirring up some serious controversy (thanks to chukt for sending the link). The jist of the opinion piece is that rather than seeking to block mountain bikes from future wilderness areas, hikers and equestrians should work together with bikers to form a more powerful alliance to protect roadless areas. Seems pretty reasonable, right? Too bad many of the article’s commenters are pissed.
The author, Bill Schneider, points out that the Wilderness Act passed by Congress in 1964 did not contain the word “bicycle.” It was only in the 1980s that the Forest Service (not Congress) revised regulations to ban bicycles in wilderness areas. These days IMBA is a powerful lobby and Schneider argues that hikers need allies in preserving new wild and roadless areas in the US. (Note: IMBA is not currently trying to get bikes into existing wilderness areas.) If we work together instead of against one another, the argument goes, we’ll be able to protect more wilderness.
I probably spent 30 minutes yesterday reading the comments on this article and it gave me a new appreciation for what mountain bikers are up against when it comes to opening new areas for trails. While IMBA has had huge sucesses in the past few years we still have a long way to go – let’s all do our part to make sure mountain bikers have a voice!
