IMBA Epic Alert: Proposed Maah Daah Hey Extension Restricts Mountain Bikes!

Action Alert

For Immediate Release
09-14-06
Contact: Drew Vankat, Policy Analyst
drew@imba.com
303-545-9011

A proposed extension to North Dakota's world-famous Maah Daah Hey trail, an IMBA Epic, will ban mountain bikes from most of its 45 miles if a new Forest Service plan is implemented. The agency suggests prohibiting mountain bikes from all but the first 11 miles of this important extension because parts of the route run through a roadless area.

IMBA urges mountain bikers to tell the Forest Service bicycles deserve access to the entire Maah Daah Hey extension. Of the 5,100 trail users last year, more than 55% were mountain bikers, bringing a significant economic benefit to western North Dakota. Any taxpayer-funded extension of this trail on public lands should adopt the shared-use designation of the original 96 miles.

Take action today!

Use our easy online form to preserve access to this important IMBA Epic extension. The deadline for comments is Monday, Oct. 2.

Comments may also be sent by letter, phone or fax to:

Ron Jablonski, District Ranger
Medora Ranger District
161 21st Street West
Dickinson, ND 58601-3135
Subject: Maah Daah Hey II Trail Extension Project
Phone: (701) 225-5151
Fax: (701) 225-8634

Talking points for phone calls or letters:

• Please adopt an amended Alternative H. This amendment must allow mountain bikes on the entire proposed route, including the Kendley Plateau Roadless Area, just the same as hikers and equestrians.
• Bicycles are allowed in Forest Service roadless areas around the country, whether or not they have been recommended for Wilderness consideration. Science shows our impacts on the land are similar or less than these uses and we in no way negatively impact any of the land's wilderness characteristics.
• A taxpayer-funded extension of a shared-use trail should incorporate all users allowed on the original route. If this is not possible, no trail extension should be constructed.
• More than 55% of Maah Daah Hey users are mountain bikers and the trail attracts riders from across the nation and many foreign countries. Local businesses benefit from this world-class attraction and the trail extension should allow mountain bikes along its entire route.
• Bicycles are appropriate in roadless areas. Mountain bikers cherish the remote, challenging nature of the Maah Daah Hey and we request the trail's extension embody these same qualities. Users of the trail extension deserve the best possible experience in North Dakota's rugged badlands.
• Thank you for taking appropriate steps to avoid critical bighorn sheep habitat. Though the science investigating recreation's impacts on these animals is incomplete, one study shows hikers cause desert bighorn sheep to flee more often than bicyclists. (Papouchis, Singer, Sloan 2001) Please allow all non-motorized users, including bicyclists, hikers, and equestrians, in non-critical sheep habitat or none at all.