Press Release: Help Save Important Mount Hood Trails

This just in from IMBA and the Oregon Mountain Biking Association:

Help Save Important Mount Hood Trails

Action Alert

Oregon mountain bikers need to take action and ensure important trails around Mount Hood are protected with bicycle-friendly designations. Representative Earl Blumenauer has proposed a comprehensive plan for Mount Hood, one part of which would close the beloved Boulder Lake area to bicycling. This important detail is a key divergence from the proposed Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act, which the mountain biking community supports.

In total, the new proposal would close 123 miles of singletrack to bicycling. The lands around these trails deserve special protection and mountain bikers want to help Mr. Blumenauer craft a final plan that preserves the land and our quiet use. This is a great opportunity for Mr. Blumenauer to exemplify the Oregon tradition of innovative and creative solutions to difficult public lands and public policy issues.

Bicyclists value primitive areas like Boulder Lake for the same reasons as hikers, equestrians, backcountry skiers and other quiet users. We seek the solitude, challenge, clean air, clean water and healthy forests that bring us closer to nature. Because our activity is a quiet, low-impact, human-powered use compatible with wild settings, we are asking Mr. Blumenauer to provide lasting protection for Boulder Lake that allows bicycling to continue.
Take Action!

Write or call Mr. Blumenauer and tell him you strongly endorse a National Recreation Area designation that protects the entire Boulder Lake and Twin Lakes areas and allows bicycling to continue.

You can also call Mr. Blumenauer’s Portland office at 503-231-2300 or Washington, DC at 202-225-4811. Be sure to ask for the staff person who handles environmental affairs and tell them you support bicycle-friendly protection for Boulder Lake and Twin Lakes. Click on the “Take Action” link above for additional talking points. You don’t need to be an expert to make this call and it only takes a minute!

Please forward this alert to all mountain bikers, bike shops and industry employees you know.
Additional Information

A National Recreation Area protects against resource extraction, road construction and development. It allows quiet uses like bicycling and, like Wilderness, it requires an act of congress to change.

Important trails at Boulder Lake include:

* 463- Boulder Lake
* 464- Crane Prairie
* 478- Crane Creek

We also ask that critical trail connections in Bonney Butte and Twin Lakes areas already protected by Wild and Scenic River and National Recreation Area designations remain open to bikes. Important trails in these areas include:

* 471- Bonney Butte
* 482- Palmeteer
* 482A- Devil’s Half Acre

Local mountain bicyclists were actively involved in creating a previous bicycle-friendly Mount Hood Wilderness proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives. This new plan would mirror many aspects of that bill, but the closure at Boulder Lake simply goes too far. This special area should be protected from resource extraction, road construction and development. It does not need to be protected from bicycling.

Learn more about IMBA and the Oregon Mountain Biking Association’s (ORMBA) work to protect Mount Hood’s best lands and singletrack.
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