MORE
September 8th, 2008, 01:41 PM
Protect the George Washington National Forest’s Best Trails
New info from IMBA's Rich Edwards posted at the bottom of this post.
Scud
Meetings on Sept. 11 and 13 will help determine how 90 percent of the George Washington National Forest’s best singletrack is managed. Local mountain bikers are urged to attend these sessions and ensure the forest’s Roadless Areas retain their backcountry character—and remain open to biking.
At stake is the management of 370,000 acres. The forest planning process (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml) will decide which areas will be recommended for Wilderness designation and which remain Roadless Areas. The latter provides much better long-term certainty for bicycle access without compromising environmental integrity. By attending one of these two meetings and speaking up for mountain biking, you can help protect the George Washington’s best trails and backcountry areas.
IMBA and local mountain bikers are committed to protecting the unique qualities of our favorite trails and the lands surrounding them. At these meetings, you’ll have a chance to voice your support for land protection and continued bicycle access. Please help the Forest Service craft management policies that respect both the environment our current use.
Meeting schedule:
Thursday September 11 from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm
Turner Ashby High School
800 North Main Street
Bridgewater, Virginia
Saturday, September 13 from Noon until 4:00 pm
Rockbridge High School
143 Greenhouse Road
Lexington, Virginia
The meeting schedule is also available online. (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml)
For more information, please contact IMBA's Virginia state representative, Chris
Scott.
Details, Talking Points, etc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMBA's Rich Edwards asked me to post this up (he's not a forum member). Rich & Chris Scott (IMBA VA Rep) have been tireless in their efforts on this issue. They will be at the meetings on Thursday & Saturday...
Hello MORE,
I apologize for the lack of flow in this post, but time is short and I'd like to get some info out asap.
Background:
IMBA has been present at the current round of planning meetings and has been working for the last 6 years in Virginia with wilderness advocates, hunters, equestrians and other outdoor recreationalists to preserve our current trail access, protect those lands we ride, and develop better riding in the future.
This is why IMBA was able to support the current Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness bill in Congress that will create several new Wilderness Areas, new Scenic Areas (protected, but open to bikes), and relocates some trails out of future Wilderness in the Jefferson NF. By working with the wilderness advocates we were able to communicate our concerns and help them craft legislation that minimized its impact on riding in the Jefferson NF.
The Wilderness Society incorporated over 130 comments from IMBA on their "Virginia Mountain Treasures" publication. Those edits allowed IMBA to endorse that document as it no longer specifically recommended Wilderness for many of the areas we love to ride.
Bikes, motors, chainsaws, and wheels are not allowed in federally designated Wilderness. GPS units, guns, radio collars, traps, tents, and skis are allowed.
Current:
These last meeting weren't posted until mid-August and there was little public announcement.
The maps depict "potential Wilderness", not proposed. These are the areas that are deemed suitable to be considered for federal Wilderness designation. They meet the guidelines for Wilderness east of the Mississippi. The USFS is required to consider them for recommendation for Wilderness in the current plan revision. They are asking for your opinion on wether they should be wilderness.
In the past they would have been call "roadless areas", however due to the ongoing and contradictory court rulings about the 2001 roadless rule the FS has decided to refer to these areas as "potential wilderness".
Wilderness is not the only threat to trail closure/road conversion in the NF. Fire management, ridge top wind farms, and recent BLM gas leases pose a threat to our existing trails as many of them lay in the same locations as these other management activities.
Wilderness is also not the only designation that can provide increased protection. IMBA has worked with several of the conservation groups in Virginia to advocate for National Scenic Areas that provide similar protection to Wilderness from extractive industries and road building while allowing cycling in a primitive backcountry setting.
It is critical that mountain bikers come to these meetings to show numbers and engage other stakeholders in discussion. One of the goals of the USFS in their planning process is to encourage discourse between the varied interests that have a stake in how the GWNF is managed. Not all of us will agree, but I know the more we understand each other and our goals, then the easier it is find solutions that work for more of the stakeholders.
The USFS and the other stakeholders need to see that we as a group care enough to come out to these meetings and offer our thoughts and solutions. They need to hear that you ride these trails, that you care about the landscape that the trails carry you through, and that you help maintain those trails.
I'll be present at the meetings this week to answer questions and make comments. However, as one IMBA representative I don't adequately represent the number of cyclists who ride the GW. This is politics and numbers count. Numerous articulate, passionate, thoughtful, and well spoken citizens count even more.
I can't predict how the FS planning process will play out, or exactly what lands will be closed to bikes over the next 2 decades, or where the next 100 miles of swoopy new singletrack will be built in the GW. But I do know that without the credibility that all the IMBA members and other mtb clubs in Virginia bring we wouldn't even be at the table today. By being friendly, professional, and politically active we have earned the respect of the USFS staff and many of the wilderness advocates.
I hope I see some of you on Thursday and Saturday and thank you in advance for your time. I too would rather be riding.
With your support we can help create the coalition of stakeholders we need to ensure that our opportunities for riding in the GW are better in 10 years than they are now.
So come out with your smiles on and introduce yourself to the USFS staff, wilderness advocates, bear hunters, trout fishermen, equestrians, OHV drivers, loggers, and birdwatchers we share the George Washington National Forest with.
Thanks,
Rich Edwards
PS If you can't make it out to the meetings please submit comments in writing. Indicate which trails you ride, that you think they should stay open to bikes (if you agree), and that NSA designation should be considered for areas that deserve congressional protection yet contain trails important to the mtb community.
New info from IMBA's Rich Edwards posted at the bottom of this post.
Scud
Meetings on Sept. 11 and 13 will help determine how 90 percent of the George Washington National Forest’s best singletrack is managed. Local mountain bikers are urged to attend these sessions and ensure the forest’s Roadless Areas retain their backcountry character—and remain open to biking.
At stake is the management of 370,000 acres. The forest planning process (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml) will decide which areas will be recommended for Wilderness designation and which remain Roadless Areas. The latter provides much better long-term certainty for bicycle access without compromising environmental integrity. By attending one of these two meetings and speaking up for mountain biking, you can help protect the George Washington’s best trails and backcountry areas.
IMBA and local mountain bikers are committed to protecting the unique qualities of our favorite trails and the lands surrounding them. At these meetings, you’ll have a chance to voice your support for land protection and continued bicycle access. Please help the Forest Service craft management policies that respect both the environment our current use.
Meeting schedule:
Thursday September 11 from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm
Turner Ashby High School
800 North Main Street
Bridgewater, Virginia
Saturday, September 13 from Noon until 4:00 pm
Rockbridge High School
143 Greenhouse Road
Lexington, Virginia
The meeting schedule is also available online. (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml)
For more information, please contact IMBA's Virginia state representative, Chris
Scott.
Details, Talking Points, etc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMBA's Rich Edwards asked me to post this up (he's not a forum member). Rich & Chris Scott (IMBA VA Rep) have been tireless in their efforts on this issue. They will be at the meetings on Thursday & Saturday...
Hello MORE,
I apologize for the lack of flow in this post, but time is short and I'd like to get some info out asap.
Background:
IMBA has been present at the current round of planning meetings and has been working for the last 6 years in Virginia with wilderness advocates, hunters, equestrians and other outdoor recreationalists to preserve our current trail access, protect those lands we ride, and develop better riding in the future.
This is why IMBA was able to support the current Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness bill in Congress that will create several new Wilderness Areas, new Scenic Areas (protected, but open to bikes), and relocates some trails out of future Wilderness in the Jefferson NF. By working with the wilderness advocates we were able to communicate our concerns and help them craft legislation that minimized its impact on riding in the Jefferson NF.
The Wilderness Society incorporated over 130 comments from IMBA on their "Virginia Mountain Treasures" publication. Those edits allowed IMBA to endorse that document as it no longer specifically recommended Wilderness for many of the areas we love to ride.
Bikes, motors, chainsaws, and wheels are not allowed in federally designated Wilderness. GPS units, guns, radio collars, traps, tents, and skis are allowed.
Current:
These last meeting weren't posted until mid-August and there was little public announcement.
The maps depict "potential Wilderness", not proposed. These are the areas that are deemed suitable to be considered for federal Wilderness designation. They meet the guidelines for Wilderness east of the Mississippi. The USFS is required to consider them for recommendation for Wilderness in the current plan revision. They are asking for your opinion on wether they should be wilderness.
In the past they would have been call "roadless areas", however due to the ongoing and contradictory court rulings about the 2001 roadless rule the FS has decided to refer to these areas as "potential wilderness".
Wilderness is not the only threat to trail closure/road conversion in the NF. Fire management, ridge top wind farms, and recent BLM gas leases pose a threat to our existing trails as many of them lay in the same locations as these other management activities.
Wilderness is also not the only designation that can provide increased protection. IMBA has worked with several of the conservation groups in Virginia to advocate for National Scenic Areas that provide similar protection to Wilderness from extractive industries and road building while allowing cycling in a primitive backcountry setting.
It is critical that mountain bikers come to these meetings to show numbers and engage other stakeholders in discussion. One of the goals of the USFS in their planning process is to encourage discourse between the varied interests that have a stake in how the GWNF is managed. Not all of us will agree, but I know the more we understand each other and our goals, then the easier it is find solutions that work for more of the stakeholders.
The USFS and the other stakeholders need to see that we as a group care enough to come out to these meetings and offer our thoughts and solutions. They need to hear that you ride these trails, that you care about the landscape that the trails carry you through, and that you help maintain those trails.
I'll be present at the meetings this week to answer questions and make comments. However, as one IMBA representative I don't adequately represent the number of cyclists who ride the GW. This is politics and numbers count. Numerous articulate, passionate, thoughtful, and well spoken citizens count even more.
I can't predict how the FS planning process will play out, or exactly what lands will be closed to bikes over the next 2 decades, or where the next 100 miles of swoopy new singletrack will be built in the GW. But I do know that without the credibility that all the IMBA members and other mtb clubs in Virginia bring we wouldn't even be at the table today. By being friendly, professional, and politically active we have earned the respect of the USFS staff and many of the wilderness advocates.
I hope I see some of you on Thursday and Saturday and thank you in advance for your time. I too would rather be riding.
With your support we can help create the coalition of stakeholders we need to ensure that our opportunities for riding in the GW are better in 10 years than they are now.
So come out with your smiles on and introduce yourself to the USFS staff, wilderness advocates, bear hunters, trout fishermen, equestrians, OHV drivers, loggers, and birdwatchers we share the George Washington National Forest with.
Thanks,
Rich Edwards
PS If you can't make it out to the meetings please submit comments in writing. Indicate which trails you ride, that you think they should stay open to bikes (if you agree), and that NSA designation should be considered for areas that deserve congressional protection yet contain trails important to the mtb community.