Tuesday Portland Wilderness Meeting, You're Invited!

IMBA affiliated club the Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) is hosting a meeting Tuesday, June 22, at 6:00 p.m. at the Portland REI between the area mountain biking community and U.S. Senator Gordon Smith's state staff.

Oregon's other U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has publicly proposed the designation of new Wilderness areas in the Mt. Hood National Forest and has been hosting a series of public meetings. Senator Smith's staff is also interested in hearing from the mountain bike community and how this proposal would affect cyclists and will be there Tuesday.

Meeting Details

Tuesday, June 22, 6:00 p.m. at REI Pearl District, 1405 NW Johnson. Please arrive early and eat before the meeting (there won't be food). Ask any REI employee for directions to the Clinic Room which is in the northwest corner of the building.

Please make an effort to stop by and let them know how you feel this will affect you, your riding opportunities and especially your bicycle related business. No need to RSVP, just be there!

Please Forward This Email

Feel free to forward this on to anyone you feel may be interested in this topic, especially bike and outdoor shops, touring companies, tourism folks and other bike related businesses.

To Learn More

For many years, new Wilderness proposals have posed a thorny problem for mountain bikers and IMBA. On the one hand, most cyclists support protecting pristine public lands from commercial development. On the other hand, the Wilderness Act, as interpreted by the federal land agencies, categorically prohibits bicycling.

IMBA has developed a number of approaches to address new Wilderness proposals, and we are bringing these tools to the Oregon debate. Wilderness is important and IMBA supports some additional, new Wilderness areas. But Wilderness is not the only way to protect public lands. IMBA suggests a multi-pronged approach, including the creation of Protection Areas, improved National Conservation Areas and non-Wilderness Trail Corridors plus boundary adjustments.

To learn about Wilderness designations and what they mean to bicyclists visit: http://www.imba.com/resources/land_protection/index.html

Contact Info

For more information about this meeting, contact PUMP board member Roger Louton at 503-702-4590 or through http://www.pumpclub.org.