Interior eases rule for mountain bikes in parks
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
December 19, 2008
A new Bush administration rule released Thursday would make it easier for superintendents to allow mountain biking on existing trails in national parks.
The rule overturns a 1987 regulation that required park officials to issue a special regulation when designating or constructing mountain bike trails. The special regulation required intense analysis and approval from the National Park Service director and the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, a process that could take more than two years.
To allow mountain biking on existing trails under the new rule, superintendents still need to analyze the impacts with at least an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act. The new rule still requires a special regulation for the construction of new mountain biking trails.
Denny Huffman, former superintendent of Dinosaur National Monument and spokesman for the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said the new rule would harm park resources and limit opportunities for public comment.
“We think the current rule does just nicely,” he said. “We prefer a regulation that has the opportunity for broad public comment. We firmly believe that every American owns their parks.”
Huffman said the new rule also fails to address erosion issues.
“Most of the [mountain bike] trails that I see are pretty seriously eroded,” he said.
Conflicts with other users, especially horseback riders, are also a problem, Huffman said, because high-speed bikers could endanger hikers and spook horses.
“Lots of mountain bikers are really into it for thrill as well as for the exercise,” he said. “That’s something we see as a safety issue.”
Some conservation groups have also expressed concern that the rule could allow mountain biking in proposed wilderness.
Tim Stevens, Yellowstone program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the rule could affect 2 million acres of eligible wilderness in Yellowstone National Park.
“I’m a mountain biker,” Stevens said. “There are lots of good places for mountain bikes. We need to be really careful about broad sweeping decisions that could ... impact resources for generations to come.”
Mike Van Abel, executive director of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, praised the rule change, saying it provides the right mix of public comment and environmental protection.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Van Abel, who said the association has pushed for more mountain biking access in national parks since 1995. “The existing regulation treats bikes like they are motorized,” he said. “[The new rule] puts the decision at the level it belongs, which is with the Park Service.”
Van Abel said the rule will give people, especially families and young people, a new way to see and appreciate national parks.
As for the impacts, Van Abel said most could be mitigated with proper trail design. He said his group does not advocate for mountain biking in proposed wilderness in parks.
“What IMBA has learned over the years is the design of the trail has the most to do with managing both those kinds of impacts,” he said. “The impact has much less to do with who is using the trail than with the fact that it was put on an unsustainable slope.”
Van Abel said concerns about a lack of public comment under the new rule are overblown.
