The 3rd installment of Q&A with IMBA Executive Director Dave Wiens and STC Founder and President Ted Stroll is here. This time around, there is only 1 question, which basically asks: why should mountain bikers support the organizations they represent? As always, Dave and Ted provide tremendous insight into the “inner-workings” of mountain biking advocacy.
Here you go … Dave and Ted, unedited, in their own words:
STC doesn’t have members, but here are some reasons why mountain bikers should support us.
STC’s purpose is to loosen the blanket bans on mountain biking in Wilderness. Wilderness is now larger than the entire state of California, and continues to expand. Mountain bikers’ access to our traditional trails has to be protected, and areas that could develop a network of multiuse trails shouldn’t become Wilderness without a lot of thought and negotiation.
STC enables those two things by shifting the debate from the rote recitation of “bikes don’t belong in Wilderness” to a rational, policy-based approach, one that rests on environmental and social considerations rather than decades-old mantras. It’s bringing about major benefits, even though the legislation we’d like to see passed faces a difficult road in the next two years.
For example, Washington state’s Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance has created an impressive coalition with conservation organizations in that state, and is able to negotiate with them in ways that preserve mountain biking. And the omnibus Wilderness proposal for Colorado known as the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act has various accommodations that protect mountain biking. We believe that STC’s advocacy helps the mountain bikers who must painstakingly negotiate boundaries, trail carve-outs, companion designations (i.e., conservation that’s less inflexible than Wilderness but still protective of the land), and other compromises. In other words, the ruckus that we have raised has given mountain biking advocates a stiffer spine and made what were once dogmatic opponents of mountain biking more accommodating to mountain bikers’ interests.
The other thing is that last November the Forest Service and Department of the Interior testified before a Senate subcommittee that mountain biking should be restored to Wilderness. This is revolutionary, because never before in history have these land managers said anything of the sort. With the new administration, the same two agencies have done an about-face and returned to opposing mountain biking in Wilderness. But it’s a bit awkward for them to say yes to bikes in 2020 and no to bikes in 2021, with no difference except that a different president took office. This is the kind of thing that we are confident will lead to mountain biking access sooner or later, with reasonable regulation of where and when, which STC fully supports—i.e., we do not seek blanket access to every Wilderness trail, nor have we ever.
Of course, I think supporting IMBA's national work is important, but let's pump the brakes a bit first. I'll suggest that mountain bikers consider having a mountain biking and trail advocacy budget, supporting an array of organizations that are doing the work that allows us to ride on more and better trails all the time. This is slightly more complicated and will take longer but, in my opinion, benefits mountain biking and trails more than simply supporting one organization. This can mean supporting three levels of mountain biking and trail advocacy: local, state/regional and national. Support begins locally and IMBA is affiliated with over 200 local organizations most of which are supported through IMBA and the IMBA.com website. IMBA returns the lion's share of these dollars to these organizations to be put to work locally. Then, there are about that many organizations that are not affiliated with IMBA but need your help just as much. You can support these important organizations directly, details will be available on their websites or social media channels. Many riders choose to support more than one local organization. For example, in addition to our support directly to IMBA's national work through IMBA's Singletrack Society, my wife Susan and I also support the IMBA chapter in Silverton as well as three other non-IMBA organizations in Colorado: Gunnison Trails, the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association and the Rico Trails Alliance. And once Colorado finishes forming our state/regional organization, we'll be writing them a check, too.
Beyond supporting local organizations, state/regional organizations have shown how powerful they can be working at that crucial level between IMBA and local organizations. The California Mountain Biking Coalition (CAMTB) is one of the newest state/regional organizations to form and they are already positively impacting mountain biking and trails in the Golden State. While not every state/region has formed, many have. Along with CAMTB, examples include the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance (Washington State); the Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA); the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA); the Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition (OMBC); the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA); and the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA). It is in the interest of mountain bikers to see the entire country represented either by a state or regional organization and IMBA has resources to assist with forming these entities where they are yet to exist. Contact Anthony Duncan or me at IMBA to learn more about forming state/regional organizations.
Finally, riders can support IMBA's national work to expand more trails close to home. IMBA's work is focused on helping communities create, protect and enhance great places to ride and our most important resources are focused on helping navigate the complex trail creation process that begins with vision and ends with stewardship. Vision is the initial spark and stewardship revolves around trail maintenance. In between those bookends is where the work truly lives. IMBA provides trail champions, organizations and communities with resources to help secure access and funding, as well as to help them obtain a professional trail plan. Having a professional trail plan is often the difference between a project that is stalled and one that is moving toward breaking ground and building trails. IMBA has resources and expertise for every step in the process. Certainly, IMBA works in other areas, too, but this does summarize much of our work. Check out this page and the IMBA website for more details about our work. Mountain bikers can support IMBA and our national work through our website using this link.
Great read. Go CAMTB!!! Thank you!