Help Save Trails in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Action Alert

For Immediate Release
06-16-03
Contact: Brian Cherry, Save Otero Canyon

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) needs your help to keep a popular trail system in Albuquerque, New Mexico open to mountain bikers.

The Otero Canyon trail network is a mountain bicycling, hiking and equestrian area located 15 miles outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. It features singletrack trails that are a great resource for cyclists and other outdoor enthusiasts. However, this trail network is under threat of closure.

A portion of the Otero Canyon trail network runs through Department of Defense land managed by Kirtland Air Force Base. Because of concerns for homeland security, the military base has proposed constructing a fence which would make the area off limits to public use.

IMBA and our local affiliate organization Friends of Otero Canyon believe this closure is unnecessary and overly restrictive. The Otero Canyon trails have been used for more than 50 years without incident, and are an important resource for Albuquerque residents. While IMBA and Friends of Otero Canyon unquestionably support homeland security, we also believe a compromise can be reached that addresses these concerns AND allows for continued public use on this outstanding trail network.

We need your help to keep these trails open. Thanks to relentless work by Friends of Otero Canyon, the Kirtland Air Force base is holding a public meeting on Monday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel in Albuquerque to hear concerns from mountain bicyclists and other trail users. It's essential that cyclists attend this meeting and let Kirtland officials know that we want these trails to remain open for recreational use.

Directions to the meeting, as well as more information about Otero Canyon, is available at www.saveotero.org. For more specific information email Friends of Otero Canyon representative Brian Cherry at .