Chilcotins mountain biking restrictions

[LeeLau]

Full article here - http://www.pinkbike.com/news/chilcot...l-30-2014.html

Summary

-------------------------
The Chilcotin is one of the world's beautiful places to ride mountain bikes in the alpine. It's now become part of the BC Parks system. BC Parks has put forward a draft plan seeking to regulate and restrict mountain biking in the area.

The BC Parks's draft plan unfairly singles out mountain bikers as impacting wildlife. The draft plan is based on conjecture, guesswork and is unfair in its recommendations. Please ask BC Parks to make decisions on a science-based factual approach and not just restrict mountain biking because of stereotypes of the mountain bikers.

Comments must be received by April 30, 2014. Send comments here http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/pla...-comments.html

[creaky fossil]

Canada needs to drop its insecurity/inferiority complex. It tries too hard to emulate the worst of USA social boolshyte. First came the litigiousness and now comes the Aesthetically Superior Yuppie View giving the smackdown to filthy dirteater bicycling. What's next? A Las Vegas in Calgary?

Good luck you hosers, eh?

[shirk]

A Las Vegas in Calgary?

uh it's in Edmonton. You never heard of West Edmonton Mall?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Edmonton_Mall

[LeeLau]

Canada needs to drop its insecurity/inferiority complex. It tries too hard to emulate the worst of USA social boolshyte. First came the litigiousness and now comes the Aesthetically Superior Yuppie View giving the smackdown to filthy dirteater bicycling. What's next? A Las Vegas in Calgary?

Good luck you hosers, eh?

Creaky. The Ministry of Environment tends to take comments from people outside from BC who come to BC to ride very seriously. Any comments appreciated

[toast2266]

comments sent.

[bad dancer]

Comment sent.

[reidhresko]

done. shitbags.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I cold, frumpy Las Vegas sounds like a good time!

[406]

Submitted comments. Also planning a bike packing trip up there this summer. Thanks for posting.

[xyz]

Bump. Deadline is the 30th.

[D(C)]

I got mine in.

[kootenayskier]

As one who has suffered through multiple unproductive negotiations with BC Parks, a position contrary to evidence and the public interest is entirely predictable. After being gutted by successive governments, the last men standing at BC Parks are a gang of aging baby boomer enviro-fundamentalist backpackers. Anyone with the slightest inclination towards creativity or risk taking was weeded out long ago. Their attitudes towards mountain biking were forged back in the dark ages, and no amount of lobbying or evidence will ever modify them. Strategically I suggest an end run around BC Parks entirely. At least the politicians will be responsive to votes and economic arguments.

[LeeLau]

As one who has suffered through multiple unproductive negotiations with BC Parks, a position contrary to evidence and the public interest is entirely predictable. After being gutted by successive governments, the last men standing at BC Parks are a gang of aging baby boomer enviro-fundamentalist backpackers. Anyone with the slightest inclination towards creativity or risk taking was weeded out long ago. Their attitudes towards mountain biking were forged back in the dark ages, and no amount of lobbying or evidence will ever modify them. Strategically I suggest an end run around BC Parks entirely. At least the politicians will be responsive to votes and economic arguments.

Concur with the futility of arguing with the ossified BC Parks dinosaurs. But dealing with politicians is a time sink that I am not prepared to undertake. Someone else will have to lead that charge

[BCMtnHound]

Jeff Leahy is the regional director for parks and protected areas in the chilcotin area (Thompson/Cariboo - Interior Region). He reports directly to the director and assistant director in Victoria. While he is definitely a long term government guy, he doesn't come from the old boys club background in parks. I would not describe him as an enviro-fundamentalist backpacker, but he does have to work within the existing team. His office is in Kamloops, and is listed in the government directory. Might be worth giving him a call or other direct correspondence to determine where his planning office is going with this plan.

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

Sent

1395839583

[xyz]

Jeff Leahy is the regional director for parks and protected areas in the chilcotin area (Thompson/Cariboo - Interior Region). Might be worth giving him a call or other direct correspondence to determine where his planning office is going with this plan.

Lee, give this guy a call and unleash on him like that dude at Cerise Hut you went off on and we'll be hosting a new Crankworx event in the Chilcotins by next summer!

[LeeLau]

Lee, give this guy a call and unleash on him like that dude at Cerise Hut you went off on and we'll be hosting a new Crankworx event in the Chilcotins by next summer!

Please xyz and BCMountainHound be my guest and give him a call. I've taken this as far as I want. Both of you have my support. You both have his number and know the facts.

[raisingarizona13]

Canada needs to drop its insecurity/inferiority complex. It tries too hard to emulate the worst of USA social boolshyte. First came the litigiousness and now comes the Aesthetically Superior Yuppie View giving the smackdown to filthy dirteater bicycling. What's next? A Las Vegas in Calgary?

Good luck you hosers, eh?

The private prison industry has it's eyes set on Canada now.

[BCMtnHound]

Please xyz and BCMountainHound be my guest and give him a call. I've taken this as far as I want. Both of you have my support. You both have his number and know the facts.

Heh, I've no dog in this squabble. My bike interests lie more along the line of your northern BC/Yukon exploration, LeeLau, than lift-assisted adventures whether they be via a resort or some guide-outfitter, and I take a rather liberal attitude to park regs on trail use in our more remote provincial parks anyways. Gotta love the population density in most of our provincial land base even if it has grown quite a bit in recent years...
I was just responding to the characterization of the managing forces within BC Parks. Jeff is a decent guy from my dealings with him as an entry level manager some years past, and has shown himself to be a reasonable manager when it comes to considering input from special interest, enviro data, and politician/minister direction. I am not privy to all the lobbying by the established businesses in this Protected Area turned Park, but I am sure it is the same story that is played out in almost every resource sector in BC's backwoods - old tenure/money protecting their interests in a game they've mastered many years previous.

[AlexC]

Better yet, e-mail Donna Barnett, who is the MLA for the riding the park's are in. She's also a cabinet minister, so she'll have some sway: http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/40thParl/barnett-Donna.htm

Interestingly, South Chilcotin Provincial Park is actually in a different riding than the surrounding communities. Jackie Tegart is the MLA for Gold Bridge, Bralorne, Lillooet and beyond, so she would also be a good person to contact: http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/40thParl/tegart-Jackie.htm

The bureaucracy has shown themselves to be biased against mountain biking so I think the best bet is to appeal directly to the politicians. They're both Liberal party members, so they actually have some pull.

[LeeLau]

New article at NSMB directs one to email Mary Polak - Minister of Environment.

[raisingarizona13]

New article at NSMB directs one to email Mary Polak - Minister of Environment.

I will go check it out LeeLau and send an email.

Side note, I often lurk on the shore forum on nsmb and it sounds like some interesting things are happening in your neck of the woods with the trails. I was surprised about the overall attitude of the CBC trail. When I visited years ago I was blown away by the work put into that trail and now it sounds as if it's dead. Are the gnarly trails that made the Shore famous a thing of the past? Is the sky falling the way some posters make it sound? I'm not a fan of pure fall line building but I hope efforts are being made to keep the character of the Shore just that. I guess I'm curious what your take is on all of this?

[LeeLau]

NSMB forums are populated by whiners. It's an ecosystem for complainers. The kind of people who want other people to do shit for them and make excuses for why they don;'t do it themselves. Wah wah i have a precious kid and i don't want to spend my time fixing things because i am too busy breeding wah wah but i have plenty of time to spew complaints on the internet and plenty of time to bike but don't you dare make me come out and dig because my time is soooo precious..

Its too bad as the main site is improving but the people who are on that forum should probably be lined up against a wall and kicked in the balls.

There's lots of tech gnar. I hike the gnar all the time or bike it when its dry. It's death roots, ruts and steeps when wet so its pretty easy to trash. People don't ride it. It's on seymour, fromme and cypress all three mountains. ask any of these fucking idiots who complain why they don't go ride the gnar even when they complain it isn't there and you won't get a straight answer.

[raisingarizona13]

NSMB forums are populated by whiners. It's an ecosystem for complainers. The kind of people who want other people to do shit for them and make excuses for why they don;'t do it themselves. Wah wah i have a precious kid and i don't want to spend my time fixing things because i am too busy breeding wah wah but i have plenty of time to spew complaints on the internet and plenty of time to bike but don't you dare make me come out and dig because my time is soooo precious..

Its too bad as the main site is improving but the people who are on that forum should probably be lined up against a wall and kicked in the balls.

There's lots of tech gnar. I hike the gnar all the time or bike it when its dry. It's death roots, ruts and steeps when wet so its pretty easy to trash. People don't ride it. It's on seymour, fromme and cypress all three mountains. ask any of these fucking idiots who complain why they don't go ride the gnar even when they complain it isn't there and you won't get a straight answer.

HAHA! Ok, I thought that might be the case and I figured I should ask you. Thanks for the reply.

We deal with the same shit here too. I sometimes feel like I'm banging my head against the wall trying to do good for our riding community. It can be frustrating to say the least.

[LeeLau]

HAHA! Ok, I thought that might be the case and I figured I should ask you. Thanks for the reply.

We deal with the same shit here too. I sometimes feel like I'm banging my head against the wall trying to do good for our riding community. It can be frustrating to say the least.

Community my yellow ass; 90% of people here are just takers. They're way too good to joining the association or do trailwork . I fight for trails for me so I can ride them and not be painted like a crim not for the "community".