Utah Senators Want Some Mountain Biking Allowed in Wilderness Areas

Listen Listening … / / 1:36 Senator Mike Lee explained in a town hall meeting last month why he and Senator Orrin Hatch think federal land managers have it wrong when they prohibited mountain biking in places where the Wilderness Act outlaws motorized cars. “I do not read it that way,” he informed a caller. “Senator Hatch and I both believe that was a mistake in interpretation.” Utah’s senators in Washington want to open some wilderness-area trails to mountain cycling– a concept promoted by one biking group and criticized by others. Lee’s “Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act” would require federal land managers at the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide in 2 years what wilderness tracks must be open to mountain bikes. Mountain cycling is permitted on public lands however forbidden in over 100 million acres of wilderness. “There are going to be some locations where mtb may be proper in specific wilderness areas,” he informed the caller opposed to his bill. “There are gong to be others where the character of the wilderness territory wouldn’t necessarily be suitable for mountain bicycle to utilize.” The concept has been promoted for years by a group called, “The Sustainable Trails Union.” However Ashley Korenblat says the legislation puts the desires of that small group ahead of bigger values. She a mtb hall of famer, previous leader of the International Mountain Cycling Association and Moab-based cycling outfitter. “The idea that there are some locations that are reserved where nature is more important than access is a pretty powerful concept,” she says, “and there are countless members of environmental organizations that are dedicated to that concept.” Korenblat competes the bill has divisive, partisan goals, and she doubts Congress will pass it.
< a href=https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://kuer.org/post/utah-senators-want-some-mountain-biking-allowed-wilderness-areas&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjQ1MGMyYzBjODUxMmZmOTM6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNHHQj3kM2rryEmatHFyIknfRV6S8w target="_ blank