BTC Wins IMBA Model Program Award
By Jim Jacobsen
BTC Marin has just won the prestigious “Model Program “Award from the
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). The trail system at
Camp Tamarancho was the program that IMBA recognized as the type of
endeavor that fulfills local needs and also provides an example to other
groups around the world on what a group of volunteers can accomplish.
IMBA has around 15,000 members and has hundreds of affiliated bicycle
clubs around the world. IMBA has been instrumental in gathering and disseminating
information and ideas to help local clubs solve their local problems. IMBA
has also originated many fine programs such as the IMBA Trail Care Crews
who have traveled around the country and have worked on over 500 different
trail
projects. The crews assist local clubs with trail projects, provide
expertise and experience to land managers in state of the art trail building
techniques, and teach trail building schools.
At the recent interbike trade show in Las Vegas Nevada, IMBA presented four model program awards for this year, with recipients from Georgia, Delaware, Colorado and of course Marin County. I was present in Las Vegas to receive the award on behalf of the BTC.
Interbike is the bicycle industry trade show. With nearly 1000 different manufacturers, distributors and suppliers represented, the show is gigantic. It took all day for me to see most of the show, but would take much longer to really absorb it. All the major bike brands had their usual mega-booths and countless other smaller, but important companies with their latest products on display. At a reception after the show on Saturday night the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and IMBA had a joint awards program. I was sitting with Marilyn Price, a member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and winner of a previous Model Program Award.
The four award winners gave a brief speech, thanking those responsible
for the success of their program. We will all receive a presentation grade
McLeod complete with engraved plaque. The McLeods are part of a IMBA/RockShox
program donating hundreds of these useful trail tools to bike clubs around
the country.
BTC has been working for four years building trails at Camp Tamarancho,
the Boy Scout camp above Fairfax. With about 1500 hours of work per year,
the BTC has more than 6000 hours and more than $3000 invested in the trail
system here. With the continued and generous support of of our consistent
benefactors: Clif Bar, Wilderness Trail Bikes, RockShox, Treemasters
and Susan DiMattei, we have continued to build the best single track trails
in
Marin County.
This year we were given a $4000 grant from PowerBar’s DIRT program to
finish the system. With this money, we have already installed the most
unusual signs ever seen in Marin: “Bicycles must stay on singletrack.”
We look forward to another year of trail building at Tamarancho, and would
like to see more BTC members joining our trail crew. What better way to
build upper body strength than through trail work. As the perfect cross-training
exercise for
bicyclists, trail work also increases the number of trails to ride,
and inculcates a greater appreciation of the work involved in creating
trails.
CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION PROGRAM
The California Wilderness Coalition (CWC) is hoping to introduce federal
legislation in the year 2000 or 2001 to set aside up to 5 million acres
of
California’s prime recreational areas as designated wilderness. The
areas the CWC has targeted include Castle Peak: 18,000 acres above Donner
Summit, just north of I-80, Grouse Lakes: 23,000 acres with an extensive
system of trails which includes Grouse Ridge, Lakes Basin: Area northeast
of Downieville,
which includes Butcher Ranch and Pauley Creek trails, better known
as the famous ‘Downieville Downhill’. Also three areas near the upper forks
of the American River are proposed, as well as expanding the existing Granite
Chief Wilderness west of Lake Tahoe.
Creating new wilderness is not the job of the Forest Service; it is
done by Congress. This goes straight to the policy makers, and the CWC
is making this
the campaign of the environmental movement in California over the next
five years. The CWC is counting on support from California’s two
democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, as well as U.S.
Representative, George Miller.
Though it may seem absurd that an area such as Downieville, which has
been mined for over a hundred years, clear-cut, grazed upon, is riddled
with jeep roads and mountain bike trails become wilderness, don’t discount
this concept as being purely ludicrous. This group has a very high success
rate. They have used volunteers to help map potential wilderness area,
and their campaign
was partly inspired by a similar effort in Utah, where volunteer activists
identified a potential 9 million acres of wilderness on BLM land - three
times as much as the BLM had identified.
I do believe the concept of Wilderness is good in that it will protect an area from destructive logging and mining that can scar the land for centuries, but the definition of wilderness needs to be expanded. Perhaps new types of wilderness designations could be created. For example ‘recreational wilderness’, that would allow access to the recreational users of the land, i.e. hikers, bikers, equestrians, and maybe even motorized vehicles. And maybe another designation for the non-motorized recreationalists, and keep the current definition for true, pristine wilderness areas that have no major highways running through them, or jeep roads criss crossing the acreage.
These are simple suggestions, that our representatives need to hear. It would only make sense for the environmentalists who want to preserve our lands to work with us rather that exclude us. Our numbers are plentiful, we should be able to find a solution to work together rather than continuing to fight for inclusion. Please WRITE, E-MAIL, or PHONE your Elected Officials now and stress your concerns. Time is of the essence.
Senator Diane Feinstein
525 Market St., Suite 3760 San Francisco, CA 94150 (415) 536-6868 or
331 Hart Senate Bldg Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3841
senator@feinstein.senate.gov
Senator Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery St. Suite 240 San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 403-0100
or
112 Hart Senate Bldg Washington, D.C. 20510 (202)
224-3553 senator@boxer.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. George Miller
1333 Willow Pass Road, Suite 203 Concord, CA
94520-7931 George.miller-pub@mail.house.gov
Point Reyes National Seashore Management Plan
Supt. Don Neubacher of Pt. Reyes National Seashore has announced four
public meetings as part of updating its general management plan. The
document, which will be worked on over the next three years, will set the
direction for managing the National Seashore over the next 10 to 20 years.
Members of the public who want to comment on current and future park management
issues can
attend any of the following meetings:
Point Reyes Station: Saturday, Oct. 9th, 1 to 3 p.m. or Saturday, Oct. 23rd 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dance Palace.
San Rafael: Thursday, Oct. 14th, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Embassy Suites on McInnis Parkway.
Santa Rosa: Tuesday, Oct. 12th, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial.
Over 75% of the Seashore is designated as Wilderness, and this
is usually the blockade that will stop the mountain biking advocates from
pursuing their access rights. Point Reyes National Seashore is a fantastically
beautiful and stunning park, but it is also bisected with major roads such
as Limantour
Road, Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and Highway One. There are also many
existing roads throughout the park that were once paved. I believe easements
could be created to allow limited access for the mountain biker. The Coast
Trail, for example, which is really a dirt road, parallels the coast and
runs all the way from Limantour Beach to Bolinas, could become an access
easement. The trails that boarder Limantour Road - such as the Bay View
trail could be opened, which would provide beach access. Currently there
is no legal offroad route to get to the ocean. The only options are Limantour
Road or Sir
Francis Drake, both very narrow, twisty, dangerous roads, with no shoulder.
The Wilderness issue seems to be an unyielding battle, but lets not face
it with
silence.
This management plan could dictate our access for the next 20 years,
so let your voices be heard now.
By Jim Jacobsen
Sometime in early November, the 99-2000 trail building season will begin.
In winter, the ground is softer, drainage problems are obvious, and our
crew
Please call (415) 488-1665 to lend us a hand in this award winning project.
We work Saturday mornings and Tuesday afternoons.
©1999 Bicycle Trails Council of Marin
The BTC Picnic is nearly upon us. Don’t miss this year’s festivities
on Sunday, October 3rd, at Miwok Meadows, in China Camp. We will start
the fun at 10:00 a.m. with a bike ride (beginner, intermediate and advanced
levels), followed by a potluck BBQ. Please bring a side dish to share.
The BTC and
Trips for Kids will provide the main course, dessert and beverages.
We will also be raffling off the Gary Fisher Moutain Bike which has be
touring the
county festivals this summer. This is our chance to show our appreciation
to our dedicated volunteers, and to hopefully recruit some new ones. So
bring
your friends along and see you on October 3rd. Please help us determine
the size of this extravaganza. RSVP to 488-1665 (please).
has to work hard to stay warm. We have a great season ahead of us.
We will complete the last link in the Tamarancho loop. After we have permission
to procede, we have about 2 to 3 miles of new trail
to build, in a new section of Tamarancho, with some great terrain and
stunning vista points along the way.
We have already begun preliminary layout and permit work. The PowerBar
grant makes our funding secure, all we need is workers.
Mill Valley Parks and Rec. has requested that bicyclists using the
Mill Valley Bike Path use caution and bells when passing other users.
