The Gallatin National Forest, near Yellowstone in Montana, has proposed a ban on mountain biking that would affect the popular trails in the Lionhead area. The deadline for comments is today, Friday, July 18th – click over to IMBA’s site now and let your voice be heard!

The word from IMBA:
With one day left before the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) office in Montana stops accepting public comments, opponents to bike access in Montana are stepping up their efforts to eliminate mountain biking in cherished places. Despite the attacks, IMBA and local affiliates like the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance are committed to finding inclusive, long-lasting solutions and building a broad base of support for protecting Montana’s public lands.

(The rest of IMBA’s news story can be found here.)

This seems to be another case of incorrect information leading to threats to ban mountain biking. The Wilderness Society’s anti-mountain bike petition (linked above) claims the Lionhead area would be “converted… into an extreme mountain biking destination,” rather than simply allowing the current level of mountain biking use to continue, if it is not designated as Wilderness. (The Wilderness designation automatically bans mountain bike use.) Horses, which have been shown in many scientific studies to do far more damage than mountain bikes to sensitive areas, would still be allowed on the trails if they are designated as Wilderness.

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