Mountain Biker Dave Wiens Brags about Illegal Trailbuilding on Public Land

Why aren't mountain biking vandals (who build bootleg trails on public
lands) brought to justice?

Mike Vandeman


http://outside.away.com/outside/cult...ourself-3.html

Do It Yourself
The Trailblazer
Founder, Gunnison Trails

In the 1980s, the lands southwest of Gunnison, Colorado, weren't being
used for anything except party spots and dumping grounds for furniture
and appliances. Back then, the BLM policy was simply "There will be no
new trails." No explanation. So we just started going out and building
trails. We'd push one of the braided, very faint cow trails in, do a
little work with a shovel. There weren't any laws on the books that
said you couldn't. It took us seven years of cleanup days before we
got on top of the trash. A new trail or two was popping up every year.

The last of the pirate trails got built in the late nineties, when we
realized the livestock trails we were "improving" were unsustainable.
So my thought was, Let's put some high-quality trails that drain
properly on the ground and get rid of the rest. That's when I started
Gunnison Trails, in August 2006. I just chose a name and registered it
as a nonprofit online.

Still, you walk into the Forest Service and tell them you'd like to
propose a new singletrack, like our most ambitious, a trail between
Crested Butte and Gunnison, and they look at you like you're Looney
Tunes. But you keep going back. Now our district ranger knows my name.

There are wildlife and route-density issues, of course. So you pack a
meeting room with 50 passionate trail users and find common ground
with the land managers, county commissioners, etc. Sage grouse brood
rearing is a springtime activity? No problem; we can close the trails
during the spring. To make it happen, I have to sell it locally as an
economic driver, even though overcrowding is the last thing I want to
have happen.

All 30 miles of trails we've built so far have been made by a core
group of about 25 volunteers. I'm more passionate about trail advocacy
than racing mountain bikes. Competing in Leadville against an icon
like Lance Armstrong is a special experience, no doubt, but winning is
just a cherry on top of the training I was doing anyway. And sure, I'm
a little bit selfish in that I ride all the trails we build. But
they're not just Dave's trails. We built them for the entire
community.
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

On Mar 22, 6:42*pm, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Why aren't mountain biking vandals (who build bootleg trails on public
lands) brought to justice?

Mike Vandeman

http://outside.away.com/outside/cult...ourself-3.html

Do It Yourself
The Trailblazer
Founder, Gunnison Trails

In the 1980s, the lands southwest of Gunnison, Colorado, weren't being
used for anything except party spots and dumping grounds for furniture
and appliances. Back then, the BLM policy was simply "There will be no
new trails." No explanation. So we just started going out and building
trails. We'd push one of the braided, very faint cow trails in, do a
little work with a shovel. There weren't any laws on the books that
said you couldn't. It took us seven years of cleanup days before we
got on top of the trash. A new trail or two was popping up every year.

The last of the pirate trails got built in the late nineties, when we
realized the livestock trails we were "improving" were unsustainable.
So my thought was, Let's put some high-quality trails that drain
properly on the ground and get rid of the rest. That's when I started
Gunnison Trails, in August 2006. I just chose a name and registered it
as a nonprofit online.

Still, you walk into the Forest Service and tell them you'd like to
propose a new singletrack, like our most ambitious, a trail between
Crested Butte and Gunnison, and they look at you like you're Looney
Tunes. But you keep going back. Now our district ranger knows my name.

There are wildlife and route-density issues, of course. So you pack a
meeting room with 50 passionate trail users and find common ground
with the land managers, county commissioners, etc. Sage grouse brood
rearing is a springtime activity? No problem; we can close the trails
during the spring. To make it happen, I have to sell it locally as an
economic driver, even though overcrowding is the last thing I want to
have happen.

All 30 miles of trails we've built so far have been made by a core
group of about 25 volunteers. I'm more passionate about trail advocacy
than racing mountain bikes. Competing in Leadville against an icon
like Lance Armstrong is a special experience, no doubt, but winning is
just a cherry on top of the training I was doing anyway. And sure, I'm
a little bit selfish in that I ride all the trails we build. But
they're not just Dave's trails. We built them for the entire
community.

Sounds like a good thing.