IMBA's President Meets The President at the White House

For Immediate Release
March 2000
Contact:
303-545-9011

IMBA president Ashley Korenblat met with U.S. President Bill Clinton March 11 in the White House Oval Office. Korenblat spoke with the President and key aides about mountain biking in newly designated National Monuments such as the Grand Canyon Parashant in northern Arizona.

Korenblat, who has served as IMBA's president since 1996, told Mr. Clinton that the language used in the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument Proclamation suggests that mountain biking will be banned on the Monument's dirt roads and trails. She asked the President to clarify that language through a follow-up management directive that states that bicycle use will be permitted on dirt roads and trails. This clarification is not only important for the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument, she said, but for other new National Monuments that may be created.

President Clinton told Korenblat that he understood the issue and said he'd work on it.

Mr. Clinton and Korenblat also talked about the perspective of mountain bikers on some of the President's key legislative initiatives. They discussed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument--another Monument created by Presidential proclamation.

Korenblat's White House visit was part of a series of meetings with top Federal Government officials. Earlier, she met with a top lawyer from the Department of the Interior to discuss National Monument regulations. She also spent two hours with the Chief Ranger of the National Park Service, talking about ways that the Park Service and IMBA can work together.

"How often do mountain bikers get to talk, face to face, with the President of the United States?" said IMBA executive director Tim Blumenthal. "Ashley's meeting with the President is important to the future of mountain biking in National Monuments."