A Republican U.S. senator from Utah has introduced legislation that could open wilderness areas to mountain bikes. Sen. Mike Lee said his Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act is needed to "enrich Americans’ enjoyment of the outdoors by expanding recreational opportunities in wilderness areas.”
Under the legislation introduced this week, federal land managers -- including the National Park Service -- would be given the authority to decide whether to allow and how to regulate non-motorized travel in wilderness areas within their jurisdictions.
The Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibits the use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, and other forms of mechanical transport in officially designated wilderness. Current Interior Department policy considers non-motorized mountain bikes to be “mechanical transport," the senator noted.
If enacted, the bill would insert language to the Wilderness Act to ensure that the rules restricting “mechanical transport” do not include forms of nonmotorized travel in which the sole propulsive power is one or more persons.
Through the years there have been many efforts to open officially designated wilderness to mountain bikes. Back in 2017 legislation was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, to open wilderness to the bikes. Opposition came not only from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which worried that hikers on the iconic footpath that runs from northern Maine to Georgia could find themselves dodging bikers on some sections of trail, but also from the International Mountain Bicycling Association.
“Mountain bikers and the recreation community depend on public lands and thoughtful conservation. Public lands are being threatened at an unprecedented level right now, and it's imperative that public land users come together to protect these cherished places and offer our voices in this critical dialogue,” Dave Wiens, IMBA's executive director, said at the time. “We know Wilderness hits some mountain bikers’ backyards, and we understand why those riders support this legislation. To continue elevating mountain biking nationally, IMBA must remain focused on its long-term strategy for the bigger picture of our sport.”
Comments
This is despicable, the Wilderness Act went through over 60 drafts to make sure the language was clear in eliminating all mechanized travel. The Act protects a very tiny amount of lands for wildlife, not humans. In 1964 when the Wilderness Bill was voted on it passed 374 to 1 in the House in favor of Wilderness. Don't let the recreation industry dictate the fate of our wildlands, we are lucky to have many million acres already open to bikes.
NO, NO, NO
This is so wrong on so many levels. Wilderness areas are not playgrounds they are preserves for clean water and wildlife. The few humans who rely on their feet to get there enjoy the peace and solitude they find specifically because it is difficult to get there. Mike Lee should be ashamed. No wonder the Outdoor Rec Show left Utah.
Kim Springer, were you part of the Congressional negotiation process when the Wilderness Act went through it's 60 iterations? I'm guessing not, because if you had been, then you would have known that bicycles were permitted for upwards of 20 years after the initial Act was passed and were intended to be included from the get-go. It was only after behind-the-scenes lobbying by Sirra Club that thrust fear into land managers when bikes became excluded. There are historical records on this to show this is the case.
The Act lists purposes of use of the land and the very first word listed is RECREATION. The policy makers at that time feared commercial development and concrete jungles would over run our public lands. The Wilderness Act stopped that, to which many of us are grateful. National Parks with popular trails won't change as a result of this bill, because land managers would never allow bike use in such areas. This bill simply gives land managers the option of opening some the trails that are rarely used and quickly becoming overgrown. And, cyclists are the among the most active trail maintainers of all trail user groups.
I agree. .. no mtn biking in protected areas.. disruptive to wildlife and dangerous for hikers in secluded areas. Leave it as it was designated.
Congress has never banned human powered bicycling in Wilderness. Federal agencies discussed prohibiting bicycles in 1966 but elected to NOT prohibit them under their definition of what "mechanical transport" meant back then. This is all documented, by the way. 10 years later in 1977, the USFS decided to prohibit bikes before changing their minds in 1982 and allowing them once again. Then, under heavy pressure from the Sierra Club, they finally said No Bikes in 1984... and that's how we arrived here, 35 years later and Wilderness acres continuing to grow. Senator Lee and other members of congress are trying to restore the recreation component of the Wilderness Act back to its original intent: Activities powered by a living power source. It will make Wilderness larger and stronger by being more inclusive of a valid form of Wilderness recreation. All versions of this legislation over the past few years has not touched the Appalachian Trail, due to how it was officially designated by congress as a footpath (horses are not even allowed on much of it). The many people who chime in on these comment sections in favor of keeping 100% of our Wilderness areas off limits to bicycles 100% of the time would just as soon vote to ban horses, hunters, rock climbers, cattle and loud talkers if given the opportunity. But that's not how public land management works.
"no mechanical transport of any kind"
The RECREATION referenced in the Act is "Primitive and Unconfined Recreation" in wilderness that is characterized by being "untrammeled." (Untrammeled meaning "unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation; wild.") Also, it's begging the claim to say that managers would never allow bikes in wilderness areas; we're assuming they would have the power to stop it at their level.
Here's a great [FREE!] online training about the Wilderness Act in case anybody is interested in more info: http://provalenslearning.com/carhart-interagency-wilderness-training-the...