A bill sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, is wheeling its way through Congress and could potentially open the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and other wilderness areas to non-motorized mountain bikes, wheelbarrows, carts, strollers, and other devices with wheels.
Currently, the law provides for wheelchair users to go into the BWCAW, Isle Royale, and other federally protected wilderness areas, but that’s it when it comes to using mechanical devices for transportation or work.
On the website blog post Kevin Proescholdt of Minneapolis, the conservation director of Wilderness Watch, has this to say about the proposed bill: “Several recent opinion pieces from around the country have asked why mountain bikes cannot be allowed to ride in congressionally-designated wildernesses. A new mountain biking organization has even had a new bill introduced in Congress (S. 3205).
“Congress passed the Wilderness Act to protect the wilderness character of these places, not to establish recreation areas. Wilderness preserves the great silences of lands removed from the influences of modern civilization. Wilderness is free from human domination or manipulation, where ecological and evolutionary processes may continue unhindered by humankind. Wilderness provides places where wildlife can thrive without being startled by zooming human machines.
“In order to protect wilderness character, Congress and the framers of the 1964 Wilderness Act prohibited bikes (and other intrusions of modern civilization) from wilderness while writing and passing this landmark law. The law specifically says, ‘there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.’
“This issue is not about the physical differences in trail damage by bikes versus horses, this is not so much about trail safety, nor is it about whose mode of outdoor transportation is better. This issue is about protecting the wild character of wilderness…
“The 1964 Wilderness Act has served the nation well in the 50-plus years since it was enacted. It protects these special places from activities that degrade their wilderness values, including mechanical transport and mountain bikes. As a nation, we need to continue to use humility and restraint in how we treat our wildernesses, and that includes not weakening the Wilderness Act. The new bill in Congress (S. 3205) would allow mountain bikes to invade these sanctuaries. That bill must not pass. There are many, many areas for riding bicycles, but wilderness is not one of those places.”
A hearing by the U.S. House Subcommittee on H.R. 1349 was scheduled for Thursday, December 7. If the bill passes, it could open the 110 million acres of wilderness to machines with wheels.
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