Sierra Club Issues New Guidelines On Mountain Biking
IMBA Trail News
Volume 11, Number 1
March-April 1998
When IMBA and the Sierra Club reached a mediated agreement in 1994, the Sierra Club agreed to re-write the Guidelines that are attached to their Off-Road Use of Bicycles Policy to reflect the new understandings and the commitment to cooperation between our organizations. Any Sierra Club policy change involves consultation with a large number of entities and volunteers and typically takes a long time. This was no exception.
We're happy to announce that at the end of January, the Sierra Club Wild Planet Strategy Team passed the new Guidelines unanimously. These will be attached to the policy and distributed widely through Sierra Club channels to provide background information and a philosophy of how the policy might be best applied. We've also posted them on the IMBA website.
The final guidelines went through four major revisions and IMBA would like to thank the many Sierra Club bicyclists who participated in the process to make sure that the Guidelines were fair and positive. While the policy (which was not reviewed or amended during this process) is extremely conservative, the new Guidelines are much more accepting of bikes. In combination, they're something we can work with.
They clearly say the Sierra Club "supports responsible off-road bicycling." They indicate that bicyclists can be appropriate users of singletrack trails and they have a reasonable definition of singletrack. (In an early draft, an anti-bike person wanted singletrack defined as 12 feet wide!) They also provide a reasonable definition of "yield" (slow down, be prepared to stop, establish communication, pass safely) which will combat the anti-bike claim that because cyclists aren't always stopping, we're not yielding. They acknowledge that hiking and other trail uses also have impacts and that most impacts can be managed through education and planning. They offer a variety of management options that might precede closure. All in all, we're pleased with this long overdue document.
The completion of the Guidelines sets up new opportunities for IMBA clubs and Sierra Club entities. Mark Lawler of the Sierra Club Wild Planet Strategy Team commented, " These new Guidelines are a tool to help Sierra Club volunteers work out trail access issues in their local areas. More importantly, we are encouraging local Sierra Club activists and IMBA groups to get together to work on conservation and recreation issues of mutual interest. Passing open space bonds, getting more money for trails, and maintaining trails are the kinds of projects bicyclists, hikers and other non-motorized recreationalists can work on together."
The challenge for IMBA members is to make the spirit of the Park City agreement work in our local areas. The national Sierra Club is on the right track, but strong anti-bike sentiment remains within some Club chapters. Hopefully, these Guidelines will be useful in promoting dialogue. IMBA and the Sierra Club can provide conflict resolution assistance in such places to develop trail plans that work best for the entire community.
