July 21st 11, 08:00 AM
posted to rec.bicycles.tech,alt.mountain-bike,alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
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habitat
On Jul 20, 9:47*am, RobertH wrote:
On Jul 20, 10:27 am, SMS wrote:
On 7/19/2011 11:09 PM, RobertH wrote:
It's true that mtn bikers reach farther into the woods, thereby
creating more impact than they would on a short ride. However, speed
is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of wildlife impact. A hiker is
in the area longer, and therefore creates a longer-term impact. Also,
some species have been shown to recognize the threat of a human on
foot, while basically ignoring vehicles. This multiplies the impact of
a slow human on foot.
This is what all the scientists have found (and what docents and rangers
have also observed). A human that moves quickly
(and quietly) through an area is far less disruptive than a human that
moves slowly. Of course this all changes when the human is on a
motorized vehicle or riding an animal. Amusingly, if you wanted to
minimize wildlife impact you would ban hikers and allow only mountain
bikes, but I don't see any mountain bikers lobbying for this.
The bottom line is that whether using boots made of rubber, leather,
plastic, and metal, or a bicycle made of metal, rubber, and plastic,
trail users have an impact both on the trail and on wildlife. The reason
that a few hikers are so opposed to mountain bikes has absolutely
nothing to do with the relative impact on trails and wildlife and
everything to do with preferring to have the trails to themselves. I
don't blame them for not wanting mountain bikes on the trail, it's
annoying to have to move over to let them pass. At least most are honest
about it and don't make up stories about trail damage or wildlife
impact, which is wise considering all the scientific evidence.
Yes..
Here are some more ref's if anyone is interested in this stuff:
Bennett and Zuelke, 1999. Showed passing or stopping vehicles less
disturbing than people on foot.
Papouchis, Singer and Sloan, 2001. Desert bighorn sheep study showed
hikers have more impact than vehicles or mountain bikes.
Spahr, 1990 grad. thesis, on eagle flushing, walkers most disturbing.
Knight and Cole, "Wildlife Responses to Recreationists," in Knight,
ed., Wildlife and Rescreationists: Coexistence through Management and
Research, 1995.
Gutzwiller, et al, 1994.
On the outsized impact from horses: Nagy and Scotter, 1974.
in addition to the two already mentioned up-thread.
I refuted that biased "research" years ago: http://mjvande.nfshost.com/scb7..htm.
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