Bush to allow mountain biking in national parks
sweet adeline
Posts: 2,191
on the list of priorities right now, i gotta think this is about #1,224,990. guess this is what he meant when he said he has a lot of work to do in his last 100 days in office.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27183753/wid/18298287/?GT1=45002
updated 11:56 a.m. PT, Tues., Oct. 14, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to make it easier for mountain bikers to gain access to national parks and other public lands before the president — an avid cyclist himself — leaves office.
The National Park Service confirmed Tuesday that it is preparing a rule that will allow decisions about some mountain bike trails to be made by park managers instead of federal regulators in Washington, a process that can take years.
A park service spokesman said the rule would be proposed no later than Nov. 15 so it could be final before Bush leaves office. If adopted, the proposal would likely result in more mountain biking opportunities on public lands.
Currently, the Park Service has to adopt a special regulation to open up trails to mountain bikes, which requires the public to be formally notified. The same process is required for all-terrain vehicles and other motorized recreation on park lands.
“We are trying to give superintendents a little bit of latitude especially for non-controversial proposals for bicycling in parks,” said Jeffrey Olson, a spokesman for the service. “We are responding to public demand.”
Environmental advocate Jeff Ruch called the rule a lame-duck gift for the mountain biking lobby from the “Mountain-Biker-in-Chief,” referring to Bush.
Ruch, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the proposal would open up backcountry trails to mountain bikers. Mountain bikers are blamed for erosion of trails and trampling native plants. They also disturb other park users, such as hikers, birders and horseback riders.
During his tenure as president, Bush has embraced mountain biking as a low-impact alternative to running, which is hard on his knees. The president — who has a blue and white Trek bicycle dubbed Mountain Bike One — often rides on his ranch in Crawford, Tex. and in the Washington, D.C. area. He also has received several mountain bikes from companies like Cannondale and Trek.
The International Mountain Biking Association, which is supported by some of the same companies that gave Bush bikes, said Tuesday it didn’t believe the timing of the rule had anything to do with the president’s penchant for pedaling.
“It is extraneous to this (rule) that the president has interest in mountain biking. I don’t think that has been an influencer in this case,” said Mark Eller, communications director for the group, which has been lobbying to change the rules since the early 1990s.
About 30 properties managed by the National Park Service include trails approved for mountain bikes now, he said.
A calendar for Lyle Laverty, the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks also shows that the mountain bike rule is one the administration’s remaining priorities.
In April 2006, after a 65-minute ride through Napa County wine country on Earth Day, the president told an AP reporter: “We’re able to enjoy the beauty without really disrupting pristine nature of the place. It’s a classic way for mankind to enjoy God’s gift.”
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27183753/wid/18298287/?GT1=45002
updated 11:56 a.m. PT, Tues., Oct. 14, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to make it easier for mountain bikers to gain access to national parks and other public lands before the president — an avid cyclist himself — leaves office.
The National Park Service confirmed Tuesday that it is preparing a rule that will allow decisions about some mountain bike trails to be made by park managers instead of federal regulators in Washington, a process that can take years.
A park service spokesman said the rule would be proposed no later than Nov. 15 so it could be final before Bush leaves office. If adopted, the proposal would likely result in more mountain biking opportunities on public lands.
Currently, the Park Service has to adopt a special regulation to open up trails to mountain bikes, which requires the public to be formally notified. The same process is required for all-terrain vehicles and other motorized recreation on park lands.
“We are trying to give superintendents a little bit of latitude especially for non-controversial proposals for bicycling in parks,” said Jeffrey Olson, a spokesman for the service. “We are responding to public demand.”
Environmental advocate Jeff Ruch called the rule a lame-duck gift for the mountain biking lobby from the “Mountain-Biker-in-Chief,” referring to Bush.
Ruch, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the proposal would open up backcountry trails to mountain bikers. Mountain bikers are blamed for erosion of trails and trampling native plants. They also disturb other park users, such as hikers, birders and horseback riders.
During his tenure as president, Bush has embraced mountain biking as a low-impact alternative to running, which is hard on his knees. The president — who has a blue and white Trek bicycle dubbed Mountain Bike One — often rides on his ranch in Crawford, Tex. and in the Washington, D.C. area. He also has received several mountain bikes from companies like Cannondale and Trek.
The International Mountain Biking Association, which is supported by some of the same companies that gave Bush bikes, said Tuesday it didn’t believe the timing of the rule had anything to do with the president’s penchant for pedaling.
“It is extraneous to this (rule) that the president has interest in mountain biking. I don’t think that has been an influencer in this case,” said Mark Eller, communications director for the group, which has been lobbying to change the rules since the early 1990s.
About 30 properties managed by the National Park Service include trails approved for mountain bikes now, he said.
A calendar for Lyle Laverty, the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks also shows that the mountain bike rule is one the administration’s remaining priorities.
In April 2006, after a 65-minute ride through Napa County wine country on Earth Day, the president told an AP reporter: “We’re able to enjoy the beauty without really disrupting pristine nature of the place. It’s a classic way for mankind to enjoy God’s gift.”
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
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and here you are, wasting more bandwidth on this subject that is meaningless.
i heard bush fried some ants with a magnifying glass at one point in his life. wanna bitch and moan about that?
~D.K.S.
It's true that trails which are open to mountain bikiing tend to be wider. But, the article made it sound as though a couple of 2" wide wheels have been responsible for massive desolation.
In most cases, you'd really need a discerning eye to tell the difference between trails that are open or not open to biking.
On the other hand, I can't help but feel truly sorry for hikers who have to constantly move to the side for bicycles that come flying through the trail. That must be very annoying.
I've no doubt that this move is inspired by Bush's own interest in the sport. From what I've read on mtn biking forums, he's actually quite good. And I guess if I had a custom made $4K Trek, I'd be a much better mountain cyclist as well. I test-rode a top tier Trek mountain bike the other day, and to say that it's a whole other class of bicycle is an understatement.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
just seem like? let's make it easier for you. go fuck yourself.
~D.K.S.
Charlotte & Raleigh Lollapalooza 1992, Charlotte Memorial Stadium 1996, Tibet Freedom Concert 1998, Raleigh & Greenville 1998, Greensboro 2000, Raleigh & Camden 2003, Asheville 2004, Camden 2006, DC 2008, Atlanta 2012 Charlottesville 2013, Charlotte 2013
Greenville, (XRaleighX) and Hampton 2016, London Hyde Park, Quebec City and Ottawa 2022, St Paul X2 2023, Raleigh 2025 X2, Florida (hopefully)...
who says i'm angry?
**edit**
i look at myself more as accomodating than angry. i don't want anyone to be confused as to weather i'm a douchebag or not.
~D.K.S.
It's also admitted to ( I believe) that he blew up frogs with firecrackers. Google it.
Fuckin eh! take that you terrorist frogs!
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
i feel better, roland was able to laugh with me.
~D.K.S.
Don't let 'em pull you in to that ... I told someone to go fuck themselves once, and in all honesty they had it coming at that particular point in time. But they didn't let me hear the end of it. They were convinced that I kill Palestinian babies at that point.
lol, doesn't surprise me. ok, ok. i'm sorry seanw1010 for telling you to go fuck yourself.
and to the OP, i'm sorry for asking you if you wanted to bitch and moan about something i completely made up about ants and a magnifying glass.
~D.K.S.
Oh hey...don't mention it.
...taken from a rather touching memoirs article in the NY times.
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/052100wh-gop-bush-bio.html
"We were terrible to animals," recalled Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. A dip behind the Bush home turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out.
"Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them," Mr. Throckmorton said. "Or we'd put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up."
When he was not blowing up frogs, young George -- always restless and something of a natural leader -- would lead neighborhood children on daredevil expeditions around town, seeing how close they could come to breaking their necks. George also quickly acquired a colorful vocabulary.
"Georgie has grown to be a near-man, talks dirty once in a while and occasionally swears, aged 4 and a half," his father despaired in a letter to a friend in 1951. In another letter four years later, he lamented: "Georgie aggravates the hell out of me at times."
Looks like he started driving people batty from age 4 upwards.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
Whatever will you do when W is gone?
Didn't Obama talk about a president being able to do more than 1 thing at a time?
No Kidding. If Obama does get elected, there will apparently be nothing to talk about on this board except the blissful eutopia that has ensued.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
i know, it will be awesome. then i can stop coming to this god forsaken place
my point was, there are bigger fish to fry right now.
How much time do you think he spent frying that fish, though? It's kind of lame to basically find something to criticize in everything he does. I'm no fan of his, but come on.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
sounds like quite the bike. any pics?
i need to get back into the forests on my weekends!!
Yeah, but it's only a Trek and $4k isn't THAT expensive for a bike.
Fair play to him though!
... and I still think Drive-By Truckers are better.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
There are always bigger fish to fry. Do you think that legislation should be prioritized and the list gone through serially? Legislation doesn't work that way. Lots of things can be worked on in parallel, some profoundly important, some incredibly silly, some reasonable.
If we were to stack rank and take issues one at a time, how efficient do you think congress would be? I imagine we'd have a year of debates just to get the issues ranked according to priority.
Trek has a website, BTW.
What happened to your Kona?
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825