Just because you haven’t seen a brightly colored Subaru, emblazoned with the IMBA logo, roll into your neighborhood lately, it doesn’t mean that IMBA is napping. Quite the contrary. IMBA is hard at work on the front lines of the mountain bike access struggle—namely, Washington, DC. IMBA recently conducted several meetings with key congressional leaders and federal agency personnel.

IMBA reports that they’ve held productive discussions with Chairman Raul Grijlva (D-AZ), Congressmen Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), among other members of the House Natural Resources Committee. Congressman Grijalva pledged that he will not seek changes in Forest Service management strategies that would prohibit existing mountain bike access.

A similar view was expressed by Congressman DeFazio: “Bicycling, along with other non-motorized uses, has a de minimis impact on Wilderness values.” He elaborated, “The Forest Service should be prohibiting detrimental activities that have a significant and permanent impact on the Wilderness qualities of areas they recommended for Wilderness. I hope the Forest Service adopts this view and manages non-motorized uses like bicycling accordingly.”

IMBA also met with staff members of the National Park Service and Forest Service. “These meetings continued our important partnerships to build sustainable trails, repair eroded trail systems, manage recreation and get more people outside experiencing their public lands,” said IMBA Government Affairs Director Jenn Dice.

Read the full story at the IMBA website.