Happy Birthday BLM! - 1996

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management celebrates its 50th birthday. IMBA continues successful partnership with the agency.

Gary Sprung

Manager of the largest public lands system on the planet and best friend of mountain bicyclists, the United States Bureau of Land Management this year celebrates its 50th birthday. Six years ago, the BLM took the lead among public land agencies and developed a national mountain bike outreach action plan. It's goal was to identify and implement diverse mountain bike opportunities and enhance them with a pro-active, educational program emphasizing safety, fitness, ethics, and environmental protection and appreciation. IMBA and BLM acknowledged the successful program this July with a Golden Partnership Award.

IMBA President Jim Hasenauer attended the Washington, DC ceremony on July 18. Jim and BLM Acting Director Mike Dombeck signed an agreement, whereby IMBA recognized the important role played by BLM in caring for our nation's public lands and applauded BLM's commitment to multi-use recreation. BLM and IMBA noted four trails as outstanding examples of riding opportunities: Glade Run trail system in New Mexico, the Sunshine Loop in Arizona, the Merced River trail in California, and Kokopelli's Trail in Colorado and Utah. "These exceptional trails... are of interest to mountain bikers of varying skills; they are sustainable, and they allow mountain bikers to stop along their route to view and study important historic and prehistoric resources," our agreement read. BLM agreed to publicize the IMBA Rules of the Trail as "the standard code of conduct for off-road cyclists."

IMBA and BLM have worked together since 1990, when BLM organized at the World Mountain Bike Championships the first major seminar for land managers on mountain bike management. The agency then created a task force which first met in California. In 1991, three IMBA board members participated in a two-day brainstorming session with BLM leaders while riding the Tabeguache Trail in western Colorado. Within the agency, Barb Sharrow and Bob Moore from Colorado and Dick Barber from California advanced the program. Another noteworthy BLM program came from Bishop, CA, where Joe Pollini started a youth education program using mountain bikes. Some of the nation's more famous or oldest mountain bike races use BLM lands, such as the "Rage in the Sage" near Gunnison, Colorado.

The Bureau of Land Management dates back to 1946, when Congress combined the Federal Grazing Service and General Land Board to manage the remnants of the federal land domain. These were "the lands nobody wanted," which private settlers had not claimed and which Congress had not reserved for national parks and forests. For its first 30 years, the agency labored with a confused mission. Its primary constituents were ranchers and miners, who earned BLM a nickname, "Bureau of Livestock and Mining."

In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Land Management and Policy Act which finally established the BLM as a fully empowered, multiple-use agency driven by a mission similar to that of the US Forest Service. In succeeding years, BLM has adopted recreation, wildlife and conservation values, while the public has discovered the majesty and vastness of these lands. Yet despite its larger land mass - 270 million acres, compared to the Forest Service's 191 million - the BLM still commands a budget which is much smaller than the budgets of the Forest Service and National Park Service.

Today, BLM is embracing scientific, ecologically based stewardship management through broad partnerships with local communities, the general public, landowners, local and state governments and numerous private groups like IMBA and Shimano (see story, pg.13). One of the most promising signs of evolution for BLM are the new Resource Advisory Councils. Each western state has at least one, sometimes several, of these 15-person volunteer, citizen boards. Members represent the full diversity of BLM values, from grazing and mining to wildlife, recreation, history, archeology, watershed, and local economic development. The boards were established in 1995 by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as part of his program to reform public lands livestock grazing. The Councils are currently creating standards for rangeland health which apply initially to grazing, ultimately to all land uses. I serve on the Southwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council and enjoy the discussions with ranchers, miners, environmentalists and county commissioners. Several RAC members enjoy mountain biking.

IMBA wishes BLM a very happy birthday and looks forward to working with one of our favorite partners during the next half century . After all, the agency acronym really stands for "Best Lands Mountain biking."

Help | Site Map | Copyright



	Happy Birthday BLM! - 1996 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management celebrates its 50th birthday. IMBA continues successful partnership with the agency. Gary Sprung Manager of the largest public lands system on the planet and best friend of mountain bicyclists, the United States Bureau of Land Management this year celebrates its 50th birthday. Six years ago, the BLM took the lead among public land agencies and developed a national mountain bike outreach action plan. It's goal was to identify and implement diverse mountain bike opportunities and enhance them with a pro-active, educational program emphasizing safety, fitness, ethics, and environmental protection and appreciation. IMBA and BLM acknowledged the successful program this July with a Golden Partnership Award. IMBA President Jim Hasenauer attended the Washington, DC ceremony on July 18. Jim and BLM Acting Director Mike Dombeck signed an agreement, whereby IMBA recognized the important role played by BLM in caring for our nation's public lands and applauded BLM's commitment to multi-use recreation. BLM and IMBA noted four trails as outstanding examples of riding opportunities: Glade Run trail system in New Mexico, the Sunshine Loop in Arizona, the Merced River trail in California, and Kokopelli's Trail in Colorado and Utah. "These exceptional trails... are of interest to mountain bikers of varying skills; they are sustainable, and they allow mountain bikers to stop along their route to view and study important historic and prehistoric resources," our agreement read. BLM agreed to publicize the IMBA Rules of the Trail as "the standard code of conduct for off-road cyclists." IMBA and BLM have worked together since 1990, when BLM organized at the World Mountain Bike Championships the first major seminar for land managers on mountain bike management. The agency then created a task force which first met in California. In 1991, three IMBA board members participated in a two-day brainstorming session with BLM leaders while riding the Tabeguache Trail in western Colorado. Within the agency, Barb Sharrow and Bob Moore from Colorado and Dick Barber from California advanced the program. Another noteworthy BLM program came from Bishop, CA, where Joe Pollini started a youth education program using mountain bikes. Some of the nation's more famous or oldest mountain bike races use BLM lands, such as the "Rage in the Sage" near Gunnison, Colorado. The Bureau of Land Management dates back to 1946, when Congress combined the Federal Grazing Service and General Land Board to manage the remnants of the federal land domain. These were "the lands nobody wanted," which private settlers had not claimed and which Congress had not reserved for national parks and forests. For its first 30 years, the agency labored with a confused mission. Its primary constituents were ranchers and miners, who earned BLM a nickname, "Bureau of Livestock and Mining." In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Land Management and Policy Act which finally established the BLM as a fully empowered, multiple-use agency driven by a mission similar to that of the US Forest Service. In succeeding years, BLM has adopted recreation, wildlife and conservation values, while the public has discovered the majesty and vastness of these lands. Yet despite its larger land mass - 270 million acres, compared to the Forest Service's 191 million - the BLM still commands a budget which is much smaller than the budgets of the Forest Service and National Park Service. Today, BLM is embracing scientific, ecologically based stewardship management through broad partnerships with local communities, the general public, landowners, local and state governments and numerous private groups like IMBA and Shimano (see story, pg.13). One of the most promising signs of evolution for BLM are the new Resource Advisory Councils. Each western state has at least one, sometimes several, of these 15-person volunteer, citizen boards. Members represent the full diversity of BLM values, from grazing and mining to wildlife, recreation, history, archeology, watershed, and local economic development. The boards were established in 1995 by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as part of his program to reform public lands livestock grazing. The Councils are currently creating standards for rangeland health which apply initially to grazing, ultimately to all land uses. I serve on the Southwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council and enjoy the discussions with ranchers, miners, environmentalists and county commissioners. Several RAC members enjoy mountain biking. IMBA wishes BLM a very happy birthday and looks forward to working with one of our favorite partners during the next half century . After all, the agency acronym really stands for "Best Lands Mountain biking."


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright