Summer Recreation at National Forest Ski Areas

The Summit Daily News online has an article about a bill being prepared by Rep. Mark Udall that “would make it clear that activities like mountain biking, concerts and other appropriate uses can be allowed at (National Forest) ski areas.” On the surface this sounds great but I have a some questions. First of all, …

The Summit Daily News online has an article about a bill being prepared by Rep. Mark Udall that “would make it clear that activities like mountain biking, concerts and other appropriate uses can be allowed at (National Forest) ski areas.” On the surface this sounds great but I have a some questions.

First of all, it’s unclear whether this proposed legislation would apply to mountain biking in all National Forests or just at ski areas within National Forests. For example, there are dozens of miles of mountain bike trails in the Sumter National Forest (South Carolina) already and I can’t imagine a need for new legislation to keep existing trails open or even to build new trails.

The ski industry says the legislation is needed to clear up whether mountain biking is a permitted use.

Geraldine Link, public policy director for the National Ski Areas Association, cites one public comment in response to a proposed expansion of mountain biking at Winter Park.

The comment questioned the authority of the Forest Service to permit mountain biking at ski areas.

As I mentioned, the Forest Service already permits mountain biking in most National Forest areas. Why does the ski industry need legislation to “clear up” whether mountain biking is permitted anyway – how about just asking?

Something sounds fishy here and I’m afraid the ski industry has an ulterior motive in proposing the legislation. By framing this as a question about mountain biking, something most folks agree should be allowed in National Forests, it seems the industry may be trying to gain permission to engage in unrelated activities (the article mentions building water parks and gravity-powered roller coasters as examples). As far as I know IMBA is not supporting this bill which may be an indication of its worthiness… We’ll keep you posted.