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Guest Column: IMBA Is A "Strong Partner" For The National Park Service

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Editor's note: Mountain biking in national parks can be a controversial topic in some corners, with supporters and detractors debating whether there's enough space on trails for both hikers and cyclists. At the International Mountain Bicycling Association, Communications Director Mark Eller sees mountain biking and national parks as a great match. Here, to counter views that mountain bikes should be banned from park trails, he explains why.

Howdy Partner,

If I were a standup comic, I'd call this a tough room. Penning a pro-mountain bike essay for the National Parks Traveler website feels about as comfortable as delivering zingers in a boardroom meeting, but I'll give it a try.

The occasion for this piece is a recent dustup about a trail at Big Bend National Park, but first let me say a few things.

I wouldn't bother trying this if I didn't respect the Traveler's audience. For several years, I've read Kurt Repanshek's articles about mountain biking in national parks and engaged in the ensuing debates on the comments section. I get to do this from my work desk as the communications director for the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) — a role that I often point out when I post as "Mark E." Hearteningly, I'm usually not the only commenter who speaks favorably about mountain biking, and many of these discussions have been both civil and enlightening. On the Internet!

I think it's fair to describe Kurt and some Traveler contributors as concerned about the possibility of expanded opportunities for mountain biking in national parks (I considered terms like "hysterical" and "apoplectic" but l'll go with concerned.) In particular, the notion of bicycling on narrow, natural-surface trails sets off alarm bells.

The group I represent has long advocated for the idea that mountain biking is an appropriate activity for just those kinds of trails. IMBA holds a partnership agreement with the National Park Service and is the largest member-based mountain bike organization in the world, with 80,000 individual supporters and programs in more than 30 nations. We have published two books and hundreds of web-based articles on topics like trail design, recreation management and ways to encourage volunteer stewardship. IMBA's network of more than 700 grassroots chapters and clubs records nearly one million hours of volunteer service on public trails every year.

From my seat, that makes us a strong partner for national parks. IMBA only works with NPS units that invite us to help them plan or build trails — if park staff requests assistance, we're happy to help. If a park has no interest in adding shared-use trails we do not try to insert ourselves into their planning efforts. We have no plans to demand that "extreme" (or whatever derogatory terms you've read) mountain bike trails get built on Yosemite's Half Dome or down the middle of Yellowstone. Really.

Now, what about the trail in Big Bend?

Back in 2005, when IMBA signed its first partnership agreement with the NPS, Big Bend was called out as a potential site for a pilot shared-use trail project. A vast park with huge amounts of backcountry terrain, Big Bend offers many miles of dirt roads that are suitable for mountain biking. Heck, they are suitable for hiking too, but mountain bikers are like hikers in that we generally prefer an intimate interaction with the natural world that a trail provides.

At the invitation of the NPS, IMBA helped plan a short trail near the Big Bend Visitors Center. Over the years, the idea picked up steam, clearing regulatory hurdles and gaining support among park staff and in the local community. Although just a few miles in length, the trail will provide a welcome chance to stretch the legs after the long car trip that's required to reach Big Bend. On its own, the new trail won't lure many mountain bikers to the park. However, there is other good riding nearby (including the Fresno-Sauceda Loop, an IMBA Epic ride) and it will be a nice addition for walkers and, eventually, bikers (especially families with kids who might not want to tackle long-distance rides on the park's isolated dirt roads).

The Big Bend trail project is underway, but its future is uncertain. As the Traveler has documented, NPS regulations require a lengthy process before anyone will be allowed to ride a bicycle on the trail — a fact that has not prevented IMBA from supporting the project. My group has sent veteran trail specialist Joey Klein to Big Bend again and again, allowing him to consult with NPS staff on the trail layout and construction. We have done this in a spirit of partnership, in hopes that a successful trail at Big Bend will promote a better understanding of how mountain biking can enhance national parks.

Several web pages on the NPS website address the topic of partnerships. The partnerships landing page opens with these words: "Increasingly partnerships are essential and effective means for the National Park Service to fulfill parts of our mission and foster a shared sense of stewardship that is so crucial for our future." Mountain bikers want to see better and more widespread opportunities to ride on NPS-managed lands, and we believe a partnership approach is the best way to get there. We don't demand that singletrack trails should be opened in every corner of every park — far from it. Where park staff sees an opportunity to work with IMBA and its local affiliates we will take them up on it, moving ahead on a case-by-case basis. We firmly believe that mountain biking, and IMBA, can be good for national parks.

I'll close with a top-ten list (always a reliable shtick). Sincere thanks go to Kurt and the National Parks Traveler for allowing me to post this.

10 Reasons IMBA and Mountain Bikers Make Great Partners for the NPS

1. Prolific Volunteers: IMBA members conduct almost one million hours of volunteer trail building each year and advocate for public lands. With more that 700 bike clubs and chapters, chances are an IMBA group near you stands ready to volunteer at your park.

2. Relevancy: Kids love to mountain bike and opening appropriate trails to kids is a great way to help make parks relevant to today’s recreating public. According to the Outdoor Industry Foundation, bicycling is one of the most popular outdoor activities for kids.

3. Professional Trail Design: IMBA’s team of professional trail designers has vast experience. From Parks Canada to U.S. facilities managed by city, county, state and federal agencies, IMBA has helped create some of the world's most popular trail systems.

4. Bicycling is Already Popular in the NPS: Mountain biking is already successfully managed in 44 national parks and more superintendents are considering places that might be appropriate for mountain biking. IMBA partnered with a half dozen parks in the last two years to build and repair trails.

5. Savvy Fundraisers: Mountain bikers rise to a challenge and our community is known for writing grants, holding fundraisers and working to make sure public lands, facilities and trails have proper funding.

6. Gets Visitors Into Natural Settings: Bicycling allows park visitors to smell, feel and fall in love with the natural world. Parks are meant to be experienced and bicycling is one of the best ways to get people out of their cars and engaged in a nature-based experience.

7. Building the Recreation Economy: Bicyclists spend money on food, lodging and might not even take up a parking space. Adding mountain biking as a park amenity builds on the activities offered by the park and lengthens visitors stays, building gateway community economies.

8. Where Can I Ride My Bike? How many cars or RVs visiting parks right now already have bikes on top? The demand for cycling is growing, and IMBA has a wealth of experience and success stories that show how it can be managed as a low-impact recreational activity.

9. We Wrote the Book: IMBA literally wrote two of the best regarded books in the world on the art of sustainable trail building and managing mountain biking. Complimentary copies go to NPS staff at their request.

10. We Play Nice in the Sandbox: IMBA clubs and chapters know the importance of reaching out to other trail user groups, getting unlikely constituents involved in parks and realize the diverse constituency that embraces national parks.

Mark Eller is the communications director for the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

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Comments

Mark: well said. Hailsham, the flaw with your reasoning is that you believe that there is only one way to experience your surroundings. I'm not into contemplative meditation in the middle of the trail, but that does not mean that my enjoyment is not as pure as yours.

Kurt, there are also plenty of hiking accidents that happen without any biker intervention. How many hiking deaths occurred last year in the National Parks?


Zebulon, there is no "flaw with my reasoning." I offered my opinion, which I am entitled to as equally as you are entitled to yours. We are all already well aware of yours.


Hailsham, my opinion does not exclude other human powered recreationists from the National Parks.

As a public good, the parks should be managed to maximize citizens enjoyment of said parks while preserving the conservation goal. There are zero arguments that show that bicycling is inconsistent with conservation. Meanwhile, packstock commercial outfitters are busy crapping all over the trails that they churned to moondust, and nobody seems bothered (except for a few dedicated hikers in the Sierras). That sure looks like a double standard to me.


In reply to the anonymous poster who lived in Boulder, well that's my hometown today. I agree that you can draw some parallels to NPS bike access based on Boulder's trail management, but of course I reach a different conclusion.

Here, we have the West Trail Study Area (TSA) standing out as the crown jewel of open space, kind of like a national park. Recently, mountain bikers asked for a short, shared-use trail in the West TSA but were denied any access. There are about 60 miles of hiking/equestrian trails in this area and the bikers asked for a 2-mile segment that would allow us to ride from town to a different trail area that's open for biking.

The usual arguments — camel's nose under the tent, slippery slope, etc — were used to deny this very reasonable request. The local biking group offered to pay for the trail design and construction. Meanwhile, the existing trails (open only to foot and horse travel) are in terrible shape: wide and eroded with many miles of hiked-in social trail. Bikers did not cause any of that damage, but we would be happy to help repair it.

Boulder's open space management conducted a study that showed of all user groups bikers have the best adherence to staying on the trail. It also said that conflicts between bikers and hikers on existing shared-use trails is extremely low. Boulder's shared-use trails in other TSA areas are exceptionally popular with both hikers and bikers, and the ones designed by trail experts (the city has some excellent trail crews) are holding up well.

None of this was enough to convince the city council to open even a short trail in the West TSA to shared use. Sigh. There are still a lot of people who think that they have to keep mountain bikes off every trail, or at least every trail that matters to them. I think they are being unreasonable in their absolutism.

There's nothing else to do than keep building the case that adding more options for mountain biking — in a careful and considered manner — can benefit the public, and public lands as well.


Deep-seated suspicion of and hostility to fun and play runs through the no-bicycles-in-parks comments here. One gentleman asserts that he has "won more than my fair share of mountain bike races" but proceeds to speak in the classic HOHA manner, i.e., that bicycles are all about domination and conquest and "see[ing] nothing but my front tire and the trail about a foot in front of it."

Well, to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I am a former mountain bike racer and many mountain bike racers are or have been friends of mine. From this experience, I can say that few people have the talent to win a number of races; it is difficult to win even one. I know of no one in that rarefied category, or even mountain bike racers several notches below it (like me), who has such a blinkered and essentially negative view of what mountain biking is all about. It would be like Jesse Helms or Strom Thurmond talking about their civil-rights work in Mississippi in 1964. The gentleman must be, if not unique, possessing a highly unusual combination of background and perspective. I might also add that any mountain bike racer who looks only one foot in front of his or her wheel is going to have a sad, short, painful, injury-filled career and will not come away with an illustrious palmarès to show for his or her racing efforts.


LIke many others, I have always had a negative view of mountain bikers in the national parks. I have stopped hiking on any Forest Service land because I was sick of almost being run over by mountain bikers. Almost every experience I have had has been negative. But reading some of these comments have made me think and I realized I have also had negative experiences with other hikers, but I never ended up with the negative view the way I did with mountain bikers.

Reading this article and comments have made me rethink my position. I can't wait to see how the trail at Big Bend turns out.


Traveler, a well written article by Mark E., thank you for posting. I disagree with Mark, primarily because public lands have been set aside for different legislative purposes. One size cannot fit all. Our National Parks are the most protected of these public properties, mechanized transport in our parks has been legislated against for good reasons. I would and do support mountain biking on many USFS, BlM, and State lands (not all, wilderness being one such designation), but do not support it in the National Parks. In our National Parks, lets leave only footprints, opening the door to trail bikes is inviting nothing but new problems in my own humble opinion.


Most of you are likely not aware or have forgotten that during the end of the last administration our mountain biking president, in a large part from pressure by IMBA, forced the NPS to publish a proposed rule that essentially eliminated public participation in decisions to create bike trails in National Park areas. The existing regulation requires rulemaking and public participation to establish bike trails and this proposed rule would leave that decision with the unit’s superintendent. Not that most superintendents would not be looking out for the greater public good but one could see the potential for lobbying pressure from IMBA. The existing regulation provides an opportunity for all to comment on proposed bike trails outside of developed areas. (36 CFR 4.30(b)).

Not that all superintendents can be pressured by IMBA to create bicycle trails without appropriate consideration, but I find the thought that even one superintendent could open the door to by-passing the public process as objectionable. If IMBA is confident that most American’s would like to see more bicycle trails then why object to an open process?

Fortunately when the administration changed in 2009 so did the effort to remove public participation from developing bicycle trails. Be aware . . . . this idea might again be raising its ugly head.


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