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.”
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I have back packed into wilderness ares. I have horse packed into wilderness area. For those of you who say that wilderness areas were designatedprimarily for the natural preservation of the wild life. first of all I say bull. Hunting has always been permitted in wilderness area. Teddy Roosevelt hunted in the very areas he wanted designated as wilderness. If we are to ban anything that is mechanical that transports people then we must ban snow shoes and cross country skis. If we are to ban any being that has a detrimental impact on the wilderness than all humans have to be banned. Those that use forest wood to build fires, those who build trails and tramp across country. Human use is not possible without leaving a mark or a scar. I have a friend that was trail riding on a wilderness area trail when he met a hiker with a shoulder pack approaching from the other direction. Since the hiker was not giving way my friend moved his horse off the trail. The hiker stoppedand said, "I just wanted to thank you for moving off the trail." My friend replied, "If you had been the one to move off my horse would not be standing here disturbing the forest floor." This person thought that he was so entitled to the trail, so superior inj his attitude, so selfish and so ignorant, clueless and blind that he had no conception of what was environmentally beneficial to that wilderness. I am just a passerby in this forum but I would be willing to bet that too many of you suffer from the same dificiency syndrom. Too many Sierra Club members suffer from it. The wilderness does not belong exclusively to you. What I have seen in Oregon's Fremont National Forest is that the public is being systematically locked out of our public lands. When I first moved to Oregon our timber resources were being raped. It was the public users that stopped it. When a fence with No Trespassing signs are built around our wilderness areas then there will be no accountability. Our public lands belong to everybody.