Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

GWNF planning meetings - Get Involved!

2K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  Fattirewilly 
#1 ·
From today's IMBA e-newsletter:

Shape the Future of George Washington National Forest Singletrack

Help determine the future of popular trails like the IMBA Epic Southern Traverse during the George Washington National Forest forest plan update. The process, which is restarting after a year-long lull, features five public meetings, July 14 through July 28, to identify management needs for the forest. Mountain bikers packed the house last year and we need you to attend these meetings and voice support for more and better singletrack.

George Washington singletrack faces real threats, including trail-to-road conversions to support mineral leasing and closures due to budget cuts or management changes. But we have a lot to gain: miles of new loop trails, protected access for bicycles, a larger trails budget and improved trail restoration after fires.

This forest plan will guide management actions for 15-20 years, making it imperative that mountain bikers are at the table when important decisions are made. Let's make sure we are as closely involved in speaking for better singletrack as we were last spring.

Being an effective participant is easy and doesn't require a lot of time. An IMBA representative will be present at each public meeting to share talking points and explain the forest planning process. All you need to do it show up.

Join the Pre-Meeting Rides

IMBA advocates will be leading group rides at 1pm before each public meeting. All are invited to join as we sample some of the more than 1,000 miles of trail open to bicycles in the George Washington National Forest. Email Chris Scott for meeting locations and other details.

Public Meeting Schedule (also available online)

Monday, July 14 (7-9pm)
Peter Muhlenberg Middle School
1251 Susan Ave, Woodstock, VA 22664

Tuesday, July 15 (7-9pm)
Rockbridge County High School
143 Greenhouse Rd, Lexington, VA 24450

Wednesday, July 16 (7-9pm)
East Hardy Middle School
238 Cougar Dr, Baker, WV 26801

Friday, July 18 (7-9pm)
Augusta County Goverment Center
18 Government Center Ln, Verona, VA 24482

Monday, July 28 (7-9pm)
Hot Springs Presbyterian Church
7433 Sam Snead Hwy, Hot Springs, VA, 24445

(I hope to be back in the area for the Hot Springs meeting.)
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Two meetings left.

Friday, July 18 (7-9pm)
Augusta County Goverment Center
18 Government Center Ln, Verona, VA 24482

Monday, July 28 (7-9pm)
Hot Springs Presbyterian Church
7433 Sam Snead Hwy, Hot Springs, VA, 24445

15 years til you get this kind of input again. No crying about lost access that comes about as change of management policy if you don't go to a meeting!
 
#9 ·
CraigCreekRider said:
FatTire.

I was going to go to the Lexington meeting, but spass-ed it out (lost too many brain cells I reckon). How did the meeting go - were we represented well?
We were well represented in Lexington. Probably 8 bikers mixed amoung 70 people. It's not too late to put Hotsprings on your schedule. I'm definitely going to that one and I'm hoping Davis and a few others will join in.

--Will
 
#10 ·
I was very surprised how calm the meeting went last night, I didnt come across anyone wanting to restricting MTB's on any of the trails, with one acception. One lady wanted a wilderness extension in the Ramsey's Draft area which would eliminate several mtb trails in the area.When speaking with her on the trail work done to provide hikers and bikers with an enjoyable trail by mtb'ers she said said hiker's do trail work as well and turned up her nose to mtb usage to those trails if the revision extends wilderness to include those areas.... Others that I spoke to that wanted this also agree'd with me that mtb use should be permitted somehow due to the hard work that mtb orgs in the area have done and still provide to keeping the trails looking good. I thought to myself in the 3yrs I've been riding I've never seen a hiker doing trail work like I have mtb clubs do. We need to get out there and voice or opinions because our trails for all to use, and the hard work that has maintain them are at stake. Thanks to all that went last night and to the other meetings...-travis
 
#11 ·
yakuzafreerider said:
I was very surprised how calm the meeting went last night, I didnt come across anyone wanting to restricting MTB's on any of the trails, with one acception. One lady wanted a wilderness extension in the Ramsey's Draft area which would eliminate several mtb trails in the area.When speaking with her on the trail work done to provide hikers and bikers with an enjoyable trail by mtb'ers she said said hiker's do trail work as well and turned up her nose to mtb usage to those trails if the revision extends wilderness to include those areas.... Others that I spoke to that wanted this also agree'd with me that mtb use should be permitted somehow due to the hard work that mtb orgs in the area have done and still provide to keeping the trails looking good. I thought to myself in the 3yrs I've been riding I've never seen a hiker doing trail work like I have mtb clubs do. We need to get out there and voice or opinions because our trails for all to use, and the hard work that has maintain them are at stake. Thanks to all that went last night and to the other meetings...-travis
Nice work.
 
#12 ·
davis said:
From today's IMBA e-newsletter:

Shape the Future of George Washington National Forest Singletrack

Monday, July 28 (7-9pm)
Hot Springs Presbyterian Church
7433 Sam Snead Hwy, Hot Springs, VA, 24445

(I hope to be back in the area for the Hot Springs meeting.)
This is the last meeting, and I'm definitely going.

I'll be in Hot Springs all day before the meeting and I'm going for a ride somewhere nearby. If anyone wants to ride, shoot me a PM. I've explored a lot of the stuff in the Hot Springs area and not covered all of it. Would love to catch a ride with a local. I'm up for 15 to 25 miles depending on my ride Sunday.

--Will
 
#16 ·
Location of meeting at Hot Springs?

Anyone know the location of the Hot Springs Presbyterian Church. I assumed it would be near or on 220 at Hot Springs, but googling Verizon SuperPages and Mapquest I get one location near Healing Springs and one further west of Healing Springs near Lake Moomaw. Timewise, I can barely make the meeting if its easy to find. Wonder why they didn't have it at the Forest Service office on 220.
 
#17 ·
Observations from the Hot Springs meeting

A few observations from the meeting Monday evening in Hot Springs. In general, the meeting does what they are intended to do - get input from the public on how they want the GW National Forest mangaged. Small discussion groups were formed with people of varying interest and input was encouraged. The input could be generalized or on specific sites in the Forest. Comments were written on the map for specific site concerns. Represented were mountain bikers (3 of us), loggers, turkey hunters, grouse hunters, horseback riders, and wilderness proponents. There were at least 4 wilderness proponents there. The one in my group pretty much "hogged" the discussion, not really allowing others to talk freely. I believe these folks are trained or coached for this type of event. We need to stay involved and let our concerns be known, lest a small but very vocal group will dictate future Forest policy. My gut feeling is that the wilderness proponents go for all they can get, and only compromise out of necessity. There will be other meetings in the future as the Forest plan progresses.

Fat- Tire ; what was your take on how this and the other meetings you attended went? This was all new to me.
 
#19 ·
CraigCreekRider said:
A few observations from the meeting Monday evening in Hot Springs. In general, the meeting does what they are intended to do - get input from the public on how they want the GW National Forest mangaged. Small discussion groups were formed with people of varying interest and input was encouraged. The input could be generalized or on specific sites in the Forest. Comments were written on the map for specific site concerns. Represented were mountain bikers (3 of us), loggers, turkey hunters, grouse hunters, horseback riders, and wilderness proponents. There were at least 4 wilderness proponents there. The one in my group pretty much "hogged" the discussion, not really allowing others to talk freely. I believe these folks are trained or coached for this type of event. We need to stay involved and let our concerns be known, lest a small but very vocal group will dictate future Forest policy. My gut feeling is that the wilderness proponents go for all they can get, and only compromise out of necessity. There will be other meetings in the future as the Forest plan progresses.

Fat- Tire ; what was your take on how this and the other meetings you attended went? This was all new to me.
I agree that the hunters and loggers way out numbered everyone else and that the few Wilderness advocates have a tendency to ramble for the entire session, but only if you let them. In Lexington, I accused one Wilderness guy of fillabustering the session and he shut up. The effect of verbally dominating the meeting was that while the hunters and loggers listened, they wasted value time to mark up the map. I did not waste that time....

The biggest issue I saw was the Wilderness people not putting their cards on the table til everyone else walked away from the map. This was when they went crazy with the marker and highlighted everything they wanted....hoping nobody would have a chance to comment on their input. Fortunately, several folks were onto this tactic and from what I saw, successfully offset or even neutralized their backdoor efforts.

Bottom line is that several prime trails/ride areas in VA are being targeted by these Wilderness folks; Sierra Club, Wild Virginia, Virginia Wilderness Coalition....to name some names! Mountain bikers supporting these groups should at least feel a conflict of interests.

Based on my observations, the targeted areas include:

1) Augusta County, south of Briery Branch: Timber Ridge Trail and Chestnut Ridge area.This is supposedly the largest Roadless area on the East Coast.

2) An expansion of Ramsey's that would include the Breastworks Trail and Road Hollow.

3) Adams Mountain/Whetstone Ridge trail.

4) Some increased level of protection on the Kelly Mountain/Kennedy Ridge area, though I'm not clear on what level or the impact to building and maintaining trails for mt biking.

5) The NW Corner of Highland County

Whether they want our trails to selfishly to hike for themselves, whether we're just casualties of some larger environmental cause, or likely a mix of both; there should be more riders at these meetings. We shouldn't just think about existing trails, but also needs for future trails.
 
#20 ·
The one thing I don't understand is their is a current Virginia Wilderness Propoasl that had everything worked out between the wilderness colition and IMBA. I guess this is for a different area of the state. Any insight?

On a side note, I heard this weekend that the WV PSC approved the high power transmission line to run over to Mount Storm. So how will this affect the WV Wilderness Proposal?
 
#21 ·
whit022000 said:
The one thing I don't understand is their is a current Virginia Wilderness Propoasl that had everything worked out between the wilderness colition and IMBA. I guess this is for a different area of the state. Any insight?

On a side note, I heard this weekend that the WV PSC approved the high power transmission line to run over to Mount Storm. So how will this affect the WV Wilderness Proposal?
The agreement you refer to is for the Jefferson National Forest in the southern portion of the state.

My guess is that Mt Storm isn't Wilderness or that powerline is going somewhere else.....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top