Dear SDMBA members and all San Diego Mountain Bikers:
If you haven't received it already, SDMBA is passing along the
following alert from IMBA. This alert discusses two issues critical to
the future of conservation, mountain biking and trail access in
California. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with these
issues and make comments to our public and elected officials as
necessary. Speak now.
-SDMBA
IMBA ACTION ALERT:
1. COMMENTS NEEDED ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DRAFT FOREST PLANS (DEADLINE
AUG. 11) -- Your input TODAY will affect riding for the next 15 years!
2. ASK GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER TO WITHOLD NORTH COAST WILDERNESS BILL
ENDORSEMENT UNTIL IT ACCOMMODATES MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCERNS -- Your input
TODAY will affect riding for eternity!
---- 1. COMMENTS NEEDED ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DRAFT FOREST PLANS -
DEADLINE AUG. 11 -- Your input TODAY will affect riding for next 15
years!
IMBA is calling on all California mountain bikers to comment on the
draft plans for the four national forests of Southern California: the
Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres national forests.
Your comments now will affect the next 15 years of mountain biking in
these forests. Please help protect and improve bicycling opportunities
by getting involved today.
IMBA representatives and other mountain bicyclists have been involved
at every step of the process and the U.S. Forest Service is treating
cyclists fairly. But, anti-bike advocates are asking for extensive
trail closures. You need to write to help the Forest Service provide
balance.
THE COMMENT DEADLINE IS AUGUST 11, 2004.
Each forest has its own plan. You need to comment on the plan for each
forest where you ride. You may comment either online, by mail or by
fax:
ONLINE:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr
Use the Forest Service web site to place your comments "in" the text
of the plan or "on" the maps.
MAIL:
Southern California Forest Planning
Re: (Specific forests you're commenting on: Cleveland, San Bernardino,
Angeles, and/or Los Padres)
USDA Forest Service Content Analysis Center
PO Box 22777
Salt Lake City, UT 84122
FAX:
You may also fax your comments to: (801) 517-1015
You should tell them who you are, where you ride, what your concerns
are. In your own words, please comment on the following issues (which
we explain in full on our website and linked below):
1. The plan is welcome and well done. We generally support the Forest
Service's preferred alternatives (except as explained in points 2-4,
below).
2. We support the agency's proposed Wilderness areas in the Los Padres
and Angeles national forests. But in the San Bernardino, the Forest
Service should recommend a protection plan other than Wilderness for
the Sugarloaf area near Big Bear and the San Gorgonio Southwest area
east of Redlands. In the Cleveland National Forest, the agency should
protect Cutca Valley with a Protection Area instead of Wilderness.
Those places offer critical singletrack riding opportunities.
3. The plans should NOT restrict bicycling to official, system trails
until and unless a thorough inventory and travel planning process
occurs with public involvement. Until then, the plan should only
require bikes to stay on existing trails.
4. The plans should allow bicycling in Critical Biological Areas and
should address recreation/ecosystem conflicts with constructive
management measures. The impact of bicycling on natural resources is
about the same as the impact of hiking, which the plans would allow in
Critical Biological Areas.
5. You can add other comments, such as:
* Bicycling is human-powered, low-impact recreation.
* Shared-use trail systems are best.
* The plan should protect all the roadless areas. Roadless areas allow
bicycling while preserving the land.
* The plan should also resurrect the California Riding and Hiking
Trail, and it should consider where bicycling is appropriate on the
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.
For more information on these topics, and a detailed explanation of
IMBA's position, please visit IMBA's web site at: http://www.imba.com/
Finally, please forward this email to every cyclist you know in
California. We need to make sure the Forest Service hears IMBA's
message and protects and improves cycling in these four forests for
the next 15 years.
Thank you for getting involved in this critical matter.
---- 2. ASK GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER TO WITHOLD NORTH COAST WILDERNESS
BILL ENDORSEMENT UNTIL IT ACCOMMODATES MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCERNS -- Your
input TODAY will affect riding for eternity!
The California Wilderness Coalition and other groups have launched a
campaign to get Governor Schwarzenegger to endorse U.S. Representative
Mike Thompson's bill for Wilderness areas along the northern coast.
Wilderness land designations categorically prohibit bicycles. IMBA
supports protecting all the areas in the bill, but for one-quarter of
the areas under consideration, Congress should use alternative
designations or other method of addressing bicycling conflicts than
Wilderness. The bill would close more than 150 miles of singletrack
trails to bicycling.
Please contact the governor to explain the perspective of bicyclists.
Some talking points:
* We support preservation of lands, but believe in a greater diversity
of preservation tools. Wilderness is not the only way to protect
public lands.
* This bill is not ready for passage and needs to better accommodate
bicycling. It would close more than 150 miles of trails cyclists have
ridden for years.
* Mountain biking started in California and is a popular sport - 5.2
million Californians participated last year (Outdoor Industry
Association).
* Mountain bicycling brings a tremendous amount of revenue to the
state's economy through bicycle related industry, tourism, bike shops,
touring companies and more.
* Mountain bicycling is a great way to help combat America's societal
trend toward obesity.
The best contact in this case is by phone. Please call: (916) 445-1456
or (916) 445-2841 (press option 7).
You should ask that the governor to please withhold his support of
H.R.1501 and its Senate companion, S.738. Ask the governor to seek
changes in the bill that will protect the lands while allowing
bicycling. Available options include: Protection Areas, improved
National Conservation Areas, Non-Wilderness Trail Corridors, Wild and
Scenic Rivers, and boundary adjustments.
For more information about this bill and IMBA's position on Wilderness
visit: http://www.imba.com.
---- International Mountain Bicycling Association
Phone: (303) 545 9011
Fax: (303) 545 9026
Website: http://www.imba.com
If you haven't received it already, SDMBA is passing along the
following alert from IMBA. This alert discusses two issues critical to
the future of conservation, mountain biking and trail access in
California. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with these
issues and make comments to our public and elected officials as
necessary. Speak now.
-SDMBA
IMBA ACTION ALERT:
1. COMMENTS NEEDED ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DRAFT FOREST PLANS (DEADLINE
AUG. 11) -- Your input TODAY will affect riding for the next 15 years!
2. ASK GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER TO WITHOLD NORTH COAST WILDERNESS BILL
ENDORSEMENT UNTIL IT ACCOMMODATES MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCERNS -- Your input
TODAY will affect riding for eternity!
---- 1. COMMENTS NEEDED ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DRAFT FOREST PLANS -
DEADLINE AUG. 11 -- Your input TODAY will affect riding for next 15
years!
IMBA is calling on all California mountain bikers to comment on the
draft plans for the four national forests of Southern California: the
Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres national forests.
Your comments now will affect the next 15 years of mountain biking in
these forests. Please help protect and improve bicycling opportunities
by getting involved today.
IMBA representatives and other mountain bicyclists have been involved
at every step of the process and the U.S. Forest Service is treating
cyclists fairly. But, anti-bike advocates are asking for extensive
trail closures. You need to write to help the Forest Service provide
balance.
THE COMMENT DEADLINE IS AUGUST 11, 2004.
Each forest has its own plan. You need to comment on the plan for each
forest where you ride. You may comment either online, by mail or by
fax:
ONLINE:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/scfpr
Use the Forest Service web site to place your comments "in" the text
of the plan or "on" the maps.
MAIL:
Southern California Forest Planning
Re: (Specific forests you're commenting on: Cleveland, San Bernardino,
Angeles, and/or Los Padres)
USDA Forest Service Content Analysis Center
PO Box 22777
Salt Lake City, UT 84122
FAX:
You may also fax your comments to: (801) 517-1015
You should tell them who you are, where you ride, what your concerns
are. In your own words, please comment on the following issues (which
we explain in full on our website and linked below):
1. The plan is welcome and well done. We generally support the Forest
Service's preferred alternatives (except as explained in points 2-4,
below).
2. We support the agency's proposed Wilderness areas in the Los Padres
and Angeles national forests. But in the San Bernardino, the Forest
Service should recommend a protection plan other than Wilderness for
the Sugarloaf area near Big Bear and the San Gorgonio Southwest area
east of Redlands. In the Cleveland National Forest, the agency should
protect Cutca Valley with a Protection Area instead of Wilderness.
Those places offer critical singletrack riding opportunities.
3. The plans should NOT restrict bicycling to official, system trails
until and unless a thorough inventory and travel planning process
occurs with public involvement. Until then, the plan should only
require bikes to stay on existing trails.
4. The plans should allow bicycling in Critical Biological Areas and
should address recreation/ecosystem conflicts with constructive
management measures. The impact of bicycling on natural resources is
about the same as the impact of hiking, which the plans would allow in
Critical Biological Areas.
5. You can add other comments, such as:
* Bicycling is human-powered, low-impact recreation.
* Shared-use trail systems are best.
* The plan should protect all the roadless areas. Roadless areas allow
bicycling while preserving the land.
* The plan should also resurrect the California Riding and Hiking
Trail, and it should consider where bicycling is appropriate on the
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.
For more information on these topics, and a detailed explanation of
IMBA's position, please visit IMBA's web site at: http://www.imba.com/
Finally, please forward this email to every cyclist you know in
California. We need to make sure the Forest Service hears IMBA's
message and protects and improves cycling in these four forests for
the next 15 years.
Thank you for getting involved in this critical matter.
---- 2. ASK GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER TO WITHOLD NORTH COAST WILDERNESS
BILL ENDORSEMENT UNTIL IT ACCOMMODATES MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCERNS -- Your
input TODAY will affect riding for eternity!
The California Wilderness Coalition and other groups have launched a
campaign to get Governor Schwarzenegger to endorse U.S. Representative
Mike Thompson's bill for Wilderness areas along the northern coast.
Wilderness land designations categorically prohibit bicycles. IMBA
supports protecting all the areas in the bill, but for one-quarter of
the areas under consideration, Congress should use alternative
designations or other method of addressing bicycling conflicts than
Wilderness. The bill would close more than 150 miles of singletrack
trails to bicycling.
Please contact the governor to explain the perspective of bicyclists.
Some talking points:
* We support preservation of lands, but believe in a greater diversity
of preservation tools. Wilderness is not the only way to protect
public lands.
* This bill is not ready for passage and needs to better accommodate
bicycling. It would close more than 150 miles of trails cyclists have
ridden for years.
* Mountain biking started in California and is a popular sport - 5.2
million Californians participated last year (Outdoor Industry
Association).
* Mountain bicycling brings a tremendous amount of revenue to the
state's economy through bicycle related industry, tourism, bike shops,
touring companies and more.
* Mountain bicycling is a great way to help combat America's societal
trend toward obesity.
The best contact in this case is by phone. Please call: (916) 445-1456
or (916) 445-2841 (press option 7).
You should ask that the governor to please withhold his support of
H.R.1501 and its Senate companion, S.738. Ask the governor to seek
changes in the bill that will protect the lands while allowing
bicycling. Available options include: Protection Areas, improved
National Conservation Areas, Non-Wilderness Trail Corridors, Wild and
Scenic Rivers, and boundary adjustments.
For more information about this bill and IMBA's position on Wilderness
visit: http://www.imba.com.
---- International Mountain Bicycling Association
Phone: (303) 545 9011
Fax: (303) 545 9026
Website: http://www.imba.com