Hundreds of Millions of Acres

The use of mountain bikes is at present allowed on national forest roads and trails, except for those in wilderness or primitive areas, and on those trails marked with signs declaring "no bikes allowed," or declared off-limits to bikes on the appropriate "travel map." (Travel maps showing permissible vehicular use are available from national forest local district offices.)

Give 'em a chance to move
off the trail slowly

Of the approximately 100,000 miles of trails in national forests, roughly 32,000 are wilderness areas. Therefore, not only do we have the lion's share of the forests, the use of all-terrain bikes is at present also allowed on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, which adds another 334 million acres to our larder. Some of the regions have seasonal limited-use restrictions due to possible animal disturbance and some have signs requiring road travel only due to fragile ecosystems. Nevertheless, even the most ardent two-wheeled trail opener would have to admit that there's still plenty of room in which to roam.

	State Your Case This is a divisive topic. What do you think about trail conflict (hikers versus bikers)? Do you think that bikes hurt our national forests?

The Sierra Club (see their Web site), as one of many environmental organizations opposed to mountain bike use in wilderness areas and on some other lands, amended their previous (and similar) position by adopting in May 1988 the following"Policy on Off-Road Use of Vehicles":

The Sierra Club reaffirms its support for the Wilderness Act's prohibition of "mechanized modes of transport," including non-motorized vehicles, from entry into designated wilderness.

Concerning "use of vehicles on other public lands":

Trails and areas on public lands should be closed to all vehicles unless (1) determined to be appropriate for their use through completion of an analysis, review, and implementation process, and (2) officially posted with signs as being open.

The process must include (1) application of objective criteria to assess whether or not environmental quality can be effectively maintained, and whether the safety and enjoyment of all users can be protected; (2) a public review and comment procedure involving all interested parties; and (3) promulgation of effective implementing regulations where impacts are sufficiently low that vehicle use is appropriate.

Trails and areas designated for vehicular use must be monitored periodically to detect environmental damage or user interference inconsistent with the above criteria. Where this occurs, the trail or area must be closed to vehicles unless effective corrective regulations are enforced.

As you can imagine, a dozen years later the topics of "environmental damage" and "user interference" are continuing sources of disagreement. Many mountain bikers contend that the few completed trail-impact studies indicate effects from cyclists that are far less damaging than those of horses.

It is usually the very few "kamikaze" riders who tear up the soil, frighten animals, and bother fellow trail-users who give all mountain bikers a bad name.