Mountain bikers ride for many reasons including exercise, for fun, and to get outdoors. So we’re curious: are riders more environmentally conscious than the population at large? Tell us how much importance you place on environmental issues!
Mountain Bikers: How Important is Environmental Protection / Awareness? [Survey]
Tell us how much importance you place on environmental issues!
I always thought that we should take care of our outdoor environment as well as we take care of the home we live in.
It is a definite priority to preserve our environment. This doesn’t mean that bikers should be kept out of areas such as wilderness areas or not allowed on trails such as the PCT or the Appalachian trail.
I think we should look at when building new trails is the sustainability of these trails. Where I live, our terrain is dry loose and rocky, but it seems when we build trails, none of this is taken into consideration. Our trails are falling to pieces, especially with the increased use from this pandemic.
Whenever we have these discussions on Singletracks, I am compelled to point out the main principles traditionally underlying all land management in the US — conservation and preservation. Conservation is the sustainable and wise use of environmental resources for the well-being of society. Preservation is the laying aside of land and resources to keep the resource in its natural state, unaltered, as much as possible, by human activity. So for example, the motto of USFS National Forests is “The land of many uses.” The concept of conservation is the primary concept in the management of these lands. However, within many National Forests are Wilderness Areas set aside to be preserved and protected from human activity as much as possible. In contrast State and National Parks are managed primarily employing the concept of preservation. A third main concept of management has become increasing important in our public land management decisions in the last three decades or so. That is the concept of restoration, but it falls as a sub-principle to the broader principles of conservation and preservation.
Great distinction. So would you say preservation is more directly applicable to mountain biking than conservation? Clearly the two are tied together, with preservation being a byproduct of conservation?