I wrote to my son Richard Edwards, who lives in Harrisonburg, VA about the proposals to change the road use designation. He is IMBA Trail Solutions Manager and has been involved in many of the discussions. Well, you've brought up the subject of many a recent angry
conversation.
On the dirt side it's even worse as the BRP bisects thousands
of miles of trail and creates a "green wall" preventing bicycle
access on trails on gravel roads that are on FS land but the NPS
owns the 200-400' as the routes cross the Parkway. Any hope we
had of negotiating crossings at key locations are up in smoke for
the next decade or longer.
After meeting the Park Superintendent as a previous meeting
about similarly anti-bike trail plan near Roanoke and skimming the
reviews of the management plan I've avoided involvement as it
looks so bad from the dirt perspective. The Superintendent is
no
fan of bikes and seems to feel that bike traffic both on pavement
or dirt is detrimental to the NPS mission on the BRP. Our
southern regional director and legal pitbull are preparing
comments, but IMBA is unlikely to put much effort into this beyond
strongly worded comments as this is not stacked in our favor.
First rule of success with NPS is having superintendent
support.
With it you can walk though walls of paper and anything is
possible, without those paper walls are impenetrable unless you
wield a legal bludgeon and then you'll be sabotaged with unwilling
compliance.
However, that doesn't mean the road cycling community won't
make a huge push and they should be supported. This version of
the management plan will likely outlive the current pigheaded
superintendent and it would be nice to have a better plan for his
successor to adopt.
Please submit comments that illustrate the value of bicycling
and push the local economies alternative (C). With NPS plan
comments it important to remember that you aren't voting, but
rather providing thoughtful criticism and suggestions for
improvement. One well written letter with strong arguments and
supporting documents can outweigh hundreds of " your stupid, don't
do this" letters or form letters. Remember your letters will
be
documents of public record and thus usable in appeals or as
documented support for pro-bicycle actions(legislation) in the
future. With the new USFS planning websites it's possible to
review everyones comments online shortly after they are submitted.
Not sure if the NPS is at that level of digital transparency in
the their planning process.
You can also recommend they scrap all three alternatives and
come up with a fourth that encourages bike use. This is a
longshot, but a entirely new alternative is not uncommon when the
public overwhelmingly rejects the "preferred alternative"
______________________________ Richard Edwards - IMBA Trail Solutions Manager International Mountain Bicycling Association 1005 South Dogwood Drive, Harrisonburg, Va 22801 USA ph: (m)540-421-6067 (w)303-545-9011 email: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx, web: www.imba.com Please direct all
communication involving the use of google
products to xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.
Looking for comprehensive information on trailbuilding? Pick up Trail Solutions and Managing Mountain Biking -- IMBA's most complete trail management resources. “Any other feature of
construction
may be improved from month to month or
from year to year, but if the grade is not
properly established the trail must in
time be abandoned. Thus not only may time
and money be wasted, but the trail while
in use will be unsatisfactory”
– USDA
Forest Service, Trail
Construction on National
Forests, 1915
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