Forest Service Proposal Would Reduce Access In Boulder - IMBA's Home Town
IMBA Trail News
Volume 12, Number 4
September 1999
By Dan Vardamis
Mountain bike trail access in Boulder, Colorado the 100,000-person city where IMBA is based has received a lot of attention in the past few months. Outside Magazine, in their August issue, published a story describing, and sensationalizing, user group conflict in Boulder among cyclists, hikers and equestrians. The Outside article inspired a slew of follow-up articles and TV news stories in Denver/Boulder media.
Riding along Boulder Creek in Walker Ranch, west of Boulder, near the threatened USFS trails. --photo by Gnurps |
Closed trails are nothing new for Boulder County mountain bikers. In 1987 Boulder Mountain Parks, home to some of the most scenic and easily accessible urban trails in the United States, implemented a blanket closure on mountain biking within its boundaries. Since then, other Boulder agencies have declared many park and open-space singletracks off limits to bikes. Until the recently proposed management plan, US Forest Service land was viewed as a last nearby singletrack sanctuary for the large population of mountain bikers in Boulder.
The primary proponent of the USFS management plan is a group called Preserve Unique Magnolia Association (PUMA), who strongly advocate closing trails as a way to protect the environment. The Boulder Camera noted, "PUMA's [spokesman Scott] Reuman wondered where those people were five years ago. 'We were involved in the whole process, and there were no mountain bikers there then.'" The majority of PUMA members are private homeowners who live near the contested USFS land.
In addition to rallying support at the USFS meetings, local mountain biking groups organized a series of rides to showcase the trails in question. More than 100 mountain bikers attended these events to ride the trails, talk with local advocates, write letters to the USFS and sign a petition. Boulder County mountain biker and attendee Rachel Miravich said, "I didn't realize just how great these trails are. I'm very concerned about the proposed Forest Service closures."
Finally, Trail Mix, IMBA, BOA and other recreation groups submitted a mapped plan to the USFS outlining a trail plan that would accommodate wildlife and recreation. Included with the maps was the following statement:
"The biggest shortcoming of the USFS document is the omission of any area-wide trail plan. No thought is given to the need for a sensible trail corridor connecting Boulder and Nederland. The document states that the Forest Service will develop at least two alternatives, the Forest Service Proposed Action or No Action. We suggest a third alternative, which is to sit down with trail users and develop a model plan that meets both the area's environmental needs and those of trail users."
Prospects for change
The public comment period ended in late August, and the management plan was being reviewed by the USFS as this issue of ITN went to press. "I'm not sure everyone is going to be completely happy," Walsh told Denver's Channel 2 News. "What we are hoping to do is identify a system that meets the resource needs that we have a responsibility to meet, and also provides opportunities for a range of recreational users who hopefully will use the forest in a responsible way." The USFS plans to submit a revised management plan in late 1999 or early 2000.
Cyclists respond
In response to the proposed closures, local mountain bike groups Trail Mix and the Boulder Off Road Alliance (BOA) jumped into action to alert Boulder County mountain bikers. IMBA staff provided logistical and strategic support, as well as inspiration.
A combined letter to the USFS composed by the BOA, Trail Mix and IMBA said, "People want to ride or hike without having to face the perils of traveling on the road. They want to check out a scenic overlook or connect two existing trails. Often an established route doesn't exist, so they move off trail. A new trail is formed; one that is not well planned or designed."
Trail Mix, BOA, IMBA, the Boulder County Horsemen's Association and the Boulder Area Trails Coalition worked together to develop an alternative management plan for submission to the USFS. It included this statement: "Poorly designed roads/trails that enter critical wildlife habitat should be closed. Yet to ensure the success of these closures, the needs for rec-reationists should be considered. Properly designed, safe and enjoyable connector routes must be established to allow mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians to get from Point A to Point B."
Recreational groups also called into question the scientific legitimacy of the proposed management plan, stating, "The intentions of the plan are to protect wildlife habitat, yet the document doesn't indicate what constitutes wildlife habitat and how roads/trails and their use measurably impact this habitat. There is very little research that provides direct evidence of the impacts of trail activities on a particular species. Additionally, the plan inappropriately lumps roads and trails together when it's clear that the impacts are different."
The Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest held a series of meetings in July and August to collect public input on the management plan. The sensitivity of the issue, combined with Boulder's recreation and environmentally minded population, ensured that the meetings were well attended.
