IMBA Meets with Congressional Leaders and Federal Agencies on Public Lands Issues
For Immediate Release 2-12-10
Contact Mark Eller
IMBA Communications Director
markeller@imba.com
303-545-9011 x115
IMBA recently conducted several meetings in Washington, D.C. with key congressional leaders and federal agency personnel. 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, as well as meetings with Forest Service officials, provided IMBA with the opportunity to strengthen support for mountain bike access on public lands.
In January, Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, along with many House colleagues, wrote to Tom Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, urging the Forest Service to issue national guidance on forest lands that have been recommended for Wilderness designations. Initially, IMBA issued an Action Alert opposing the letter but after talking with Grijalva’s staff an important clarification emerged: the Chairman will not seek changes in Forest Service management strategies that would prohibit existing mountain bike access. With that pledge, IMBA expressed support for the letter with an updated (and now expired) Action Alert. In further discussions with Congressman Grijalva, he stated, “The letter is intended to suggest that the Forest Service has sufficient flexibility to allow continued mountain bicycling in areas where it currently exists; it does not include prohibiting mountain bicycling.”
IMBA Government Affairs Director Jenn Dice said, "Research demonstrates that bicycling does not adversely impact Wilderness values to a significant degree -- it has about the same effect as hiking. Mountain bicyclists ride in at least 14 national forests in Recommended Wilderness and many more places classified as pristine, back-country areas. Forest Service regulation is clear that existing uses may continue as long as they don’t impair the land for future designation.”
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 told congressional offices and federal agency staff that activities like bicycling and hiking lead to greater participation in a range of outdoor activities, which improves youth engagement with our public lands and promise to build the ranks of future stewards of our national forests. 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 Dice. She summed up the week of meetings by noting, “IMBA has great relationships with the various public land management agencies. Likewise, we we will continue working with political leaders and agency staff to ensure that they base their decisions on the best possible information about the impacts of mountain biking."
