More Mountain Bike Access

[cracked]

[kurthicks]

It makes no sense to equate a 27 speed bicycle to a canoe...

 

that's what i was trying to get at. Mountain bikes are a fundamentally different form of transportation than are canoes or skis. anyways, the arguement that horses allow handicapped users to access wilderness can be augmented by realizing that wheelchairs are not prohibited in designated wilderness.

 

it seems that this is more about personal rights/liberties as was pointed out, just like a lot of natural resource issues in the West. There will always be someone who is unhappy with the current situation. that's what makes the political arena function the way it does.

[Fairweather]

the act uses the word 'primitive' for a reason, IMO. boats have been around for millenia.

 

So has the wheel...and the gear.

 

I'm not trying to get too smart-assed here, but if words actually mean things when environmental lawyers argue their cases before the 9th circuit, should not words be the standard all around?

 

I'm all for land managers having the latitude to make good decisions, but I think they are a bit too conservative when it comes to allowing the use of clean, quiet, human powered mountain bikes on public land.

[kurthicks]

fairweather, i think we're onto similar ideas here. i know that i kind of got on the wilderness soapbox about this and you were talking about public lands in general. I'm all for mountain bikes on public, non wilderness land. I do, however, believe in the preservation of places and to restrict use to give it a more "primitive" feel. i feel a lot more "outdoors" or whatever you want to call it when trudging up a hill on foot than when i'm on a bike.

 

you're right on about having specific definitions when writing laws and arguing them in court. that would make all sorts of things easier.