BLM ruling pleases mountain bikers

By Theo Stein

January 23, 2001

The Bureau of Land Management has decided not to group mountain bikes with motorized vehicles in a controversial new off-road vehicle policy after being buried by more than 14,000 comments in 30 days.

A bureau spokesman said the agency acknowledges that bicycles produce different effects than motorized vehicles and says the agency will develop separate rules for "mechanized" as opposed to "motorized" travel.

The abrupt change was applauded by mountain bike advocates and some environmental groups.

"This is a milestone for our movement," said Tim Blumenthal, executive director of the 32,000-member International Mountain Bicycle Association. "In less than 30 days, we succeeded in mobilizing 10,000 mountain bikers to the degree they wrote individual letters to the BLM."

While the new policy would not have imposed any immediate trail restrictions on cyclists, there were possible implications for many popular riding areas, including Fruita, on the Western Slope, where the single-track-heavy trail system is developing the kind of buzz that propelled Moab, Utah, as a mountain bike paradise 10 years ago. In the Gunnison area, the popular "Rage in the Sage" race is run on BLM land in the Hartland Rocks Recreation Area.

Bureau spokesman Tom Gorey said the decision to lump mountain bikers together with motorized vehicles produced "intense interest." "Before this, you might have been able to call it a "sleeper' issue," said Gorey. "If it was, it woke people up and that's OK as far as raising the profile of the whole issue of off-road use. I think the mountain bike community does see very clearly the BLM's need to address all impacts regardless of the source. A resource is a resource is a resource. It can't tell one type of vehicle from another."

Blumenthal agreed the agency should develop a plan to address increasing use of backcountry areas by cyclists, who can cover up to 50 rugged miles a day on 27-speed suspended bicycles.

"We're in favor of being managed," Blumenthal said. "With population growth and increasing trail use of all kinds, government officials at all levels are feeling more pressure to manage public lands more carefully. That's why the BLM will and should develop a separate mountain bike policy."

Blumenthal said bicyclists have shown they're willing to pitch in as well. In the past 10 years, mountain bikers have clearly established themselves as one of the most reliable sources of volunteer labor for trail projects. Pete Webber, IMBA's spokesman, said affiliated mountain bike clubs have contributed 500,000 hours per year in actual labor and advocacy work.
Suzanne Jones, assistant director of the Wilderness Society's regional office, said the bureau's action was appropriate. "While management of growing mountain bike use is an important issue BLM needs to address, mountain bikes have very different social and ecological impacts than off-road vehicles, so they shouldn't be lumped together."

Mountain bikes already are banned from all wilderness areas, as are other machines ranging from motorcycles to helicopters.