Every wonder where Louisville's Olmsted Conservancy got the nerve to kick mountain bikers off of our public trails at Jefferson Memorial Forest and Iroquois Park? Look no further than the Wildnerness Society.
During the recent public comment period that ended last Friday, the Wilderness Society went on an all-out assault against mountain bikers concerning access to trails in Montana. They had a sample letter on their website stating how they wanted to "protect" the trail system by allowing horses and banning mountain bikes, and were encouraging their members to forward it on to the United States Forest Service. They even added the word "extreme" to their description of mountain bikers; a simple little scare tatic that unfortunately works.
Sounds very similar to the purposely misleading statements from not only Olmsted Conservancy, but our very own Metro Parks. With the net result being let's let the fortunate and priveleged few who own horses have access to every major trail system within our parks, but limit the poor working class family that can only afford a mountain bike, access to only two trails here in Jefferson County.
Fortunately, IMBA, the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance, and other like minded folks, all joined together to fight against the mis-leading statements made by the Wilderness Society in regards to mountain biking. IMBA encouraged mountain bike enthusiasts to contact the USFS and their elected representatives.
This is where the similarities end when compared to our local efforts. Rather than having someone lead the fight against our local Elitist Trail policies, we've been encouraged to compliment Olmsted and Metro Parks at every turn! A rather odd, and unproductive, way to go about gaining access on our public trails.
