IMBA Comments On Colorado Forest Plan

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 2
Early Summer 2000

In its official comment letter on the draft plan for the White River National Forest in Colorado, IMBA objected to the proposed policy that would limit bicycling to designated trails only. For this forest, we said, the proper policy is to allow bicycling on all system trails, closing routes to bicycling only if there are specific, solid reasons. Draft plan Alternative D, the version prefered by the Forest Service, would close 586 miles of non-Wilderness trails to bicycling, but not hiking or equestrian use, and the Forest Service provided no written justification for these proposed closures.

IMBA did not endorse any of the Forest Service's White River draft plan alternatives, but we worked with a coalition of conservation and non-motorized recreation organizations to propose management principles for the White River. The 11 groups, representing 867,000 members, recommended that "The Forest Service should manage human use in order to maintain and enhance healthy ecosystems on the Forest. We applaud the Forest Service's proposal to make the protection of wildlife and ecosystems a primary management principle by which to manage multiple uses, including recreation, on public lands."

While IMBA supported these conservation goals, the conservation groups supported IMBA's fundamental principles of sharing trails and non-discrimination among non-motorized trails users.

IMBA's complete comments are available here.