More singletrack in National Parks?
Originally posted on December 15, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Back in 2005, IMBA signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Forest Park Service. The idea was to create a climate of happy negotiation in an effort to explore the possibility of thinking about talking about maybe proposing more singletrack in National Parklands. The Service has long been prejudiced against mountain bikes, for reasons that were both good and bad. (Some backcountry travelers feel it would be nice if they were equally skeptical of, say, open-range livestock and logging operations on park lands — but that’s another story.)
Today, National Parks Traveler is reporting that IMBA is “pressuring” the Park Service to clearcut some of the red-tape in their decision-making and approval processes — implication being that cyclists want special treatment. IMBA says it is merely considering what can be done to lubricate the drivetrain of democracy.
Whatever is going on in those smokey backrooms in DC, and whatever your spin on the subject, the best thing all mountain bikers can do, of course, is to obey all the rules — conveniently and frequently preached by the good folks at IMBA.