New IMBA/U.S. Forest Service Agreement Will Boost Mountain Biking
For Immediate Release
November 9, 2000
Contact:
303-545-9011
If you live in the U.S., chances are good that some of the best nearby mountain biking is on U.S. Forest Service land. That's why the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding between IMBA and the U.S. Forest Service is important.
Signed in October, the new MOU encourages Forest Service staff at all levels to continue to work with IMBA's staff, IMBA affiliated clubs and individual members to develop new projects and policies that advance low-impact mountain biking. It includes specific points about the difference between mountain biking and motorized vehicle use and it clarifies the status of mountain biking in the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum - a planning tool that the Forest Service uses to help set trail policies.
The Forest Service manages 192 million acres of national forests and grasslands in 42 states plus Puerto Rico. This land includes more than 100,000 miles of trails. The Forest Service has historically been supportive of mountain biking: a first MOU between IMBA and the Forest Service was signed in 1994.
Already, mountain bicyclists and the Forest Service work together each year on countless projects that build or maintain trails and promote conservation. The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew has worked with Forest Service staff in more than 40 states, and affiliates of IMBA's National Mountain Bike Patrol program have become indispensable allies of Forest Service land managers coast to coast.
The new MOU specifically recognizes that bicycles are non-motorized and should be managed "distinct from motorized activities when developing agency policy, forest management plans, and travel management rules." When mountain bike use is grouped with motorized use for the purpose of setting Forest Service travel management rules, bike access is sometimes unnecessarily restricted.
The new agreement clarifies the status of mountain biking in the Forest Service's Recreation Opportunity Spectrum. The ROS was created in the early 1980s to help set travel and trail rules on Forest Service land, but doesn't mention mountain biking. The new MOU calls for the Forest Service to "utilize IMBA's technical expertise to address mountain bicycling management on National Forest Service lands, including but not limited to such documents as the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum and the Forest Service Handbook."
The MOU calls for the Forest Service to distribute copies of IMBA's Rules of the Trail at information centers, trailheads and campgrounds.
"I believe this document will be very helpful to our work with the Forest Service at every level," said Tim Blumenthal, executive director of IMBA. "It will help us build on an already excellent relationship to enhance great riding opportunities on our public lands."
Complete text of the new MOU is available on the IMBA website at:
