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Snakebite Volume 2 Number 2 The Electronic Newsletter Of The Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance
IMBA Rules Of The Trail 1. Ride on open trails only.
1. Roulez seulement sur chemin ouvert.
http://www.imba.com/about/trail_rules.html In This Issue: Nose Hill, It Is Official On Wednesday, March 15, 2000, the mountain bicycling community in Calgary took a major hit with a flagrant act of bias in the City of Calgary with the loss of over 800 trails in Nose Hill Park. In order to pander to the environmental community the Standing Policy Committee of the Calgary City Council decided to forward the recommendations of the Management Advisory Committee for Nose Hill (MAC) to eliminate mountain bicycles from the slope trails of Nose Hill Park, save eighteen. For those who do not know Nose Hill is amongst the largest Urban parks in North America. Although the City of Calgary Administration stated categorically that mtbs' did not have a greater impact than other trail users, MAC included in their brief to the SPC that mtbs' had a greater impact than other users (physical, ecological, et cetera). This statement was included in the brief forwarded to the full council. As a result once the motion is adopted by council mtbs' will be banned from most of the trails on Nose Hill where as Hikers and Dog walkers will be permitted full access. A question that should be asked at this juncture is will the city eventually see cyclists as having a greater impact on the 18 trails they can still recreate on. Will the city then ban cyclists from the park altogether? Once cyclists are banned who are next, dogs? Then eventually humans will be banned from the park. We are talking about a park that is in a city of nearly one million people. It is not a wilderness and it is not an ecosystem, it is surrounded by ugly California esque suburbs. Somebody has to take his or her head out of the sand. This constitutes a flagrant act of bias that is in direct conflict of the fairness provisions of Common Law. The Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance to fight this exclusion requires a legal defense fund, maybe, hopefully this will not have to happen as we have a litany of events planned and we need you to show up! (via Don W with bits of anger by the editor) Saturday, April 1st, noon at the Brisboeis Drive Parking Lot in Nose Hill Park. We are having a solidarity ride. The main purpose of this ride is to show the city what it looks like when a large group of park users (cyclists and others) is concentrated on fewer and fewer trails. You can ride, walk, run and bring your pets; this is to wake the city up to the utter stupidity they are proposing. This solidarity "march" will take place as long as the weather is okay. If it has rained/snowed the day/night before then the "march" will not take place. Note also that this goes to council on Monday the 3rd so a large group of people out on Saturday may well convince council that this issue needs to be addressed properly. Monday, April 3rd, at city hall council chambers. The recommendations of the MAC, which have been approved by the SPC go in front of city council on Monday, do something about it! Remember, (and I do remember hearing lots of people saying this) when we all said that this could never happen in Calgary, the city that promotes itself in all of it's literature as being the "Outdoor Capital" of Canada? How hypocritical! But I guess in a city whose major cultural event of the year is a rodeo that not much should be expected. Calgary is the Outdoor Capital of Canada; you just can't step on the grass! Some people have been asking what the general outline has been that brought us to this point, well please see below for a brief history, some questions to ask your alderperson and community association president and the community associations that supported the MAC's recommendations. (Note, the majority of the MAC is made up of the same community representatives who approved the MAC's recommendations.) History (via Glen K our tireless Nose Hill Rep) Let me talk about why I do so many varied things in the Park. I walk my dog because, more than anything my dog loves the opportunity to run in the Park. I try to be responsible in this by keeping the dog under control, making certain that she doesn't chase wildlife and cleaning up after her. I run in the Park in order to keep in shape and get fresh air. I ride in the Park to explore it and to get away from day to day pressures. In the summer I can leave my door at 5 pm and ride a 20-km loop in the Park without repeating any sections. This effectively allows me to keep my sanity and to a large extent my health. Sorry to ramble but I think that it is important to know that I go to the Park for the same reasons that you do and that I have worked very hard to maintain the natural character of the Park. Now to your main point about us wanting to fight rather than join. You may not remember but about 4 to 5 years ago the Friends of Nose Hill had a bicycle advocate on their board. He was a lone voice and eventually got frustrated and left the organization. Two years ago we put forward three people to become the City representatives on the MAC (Nose Hill Management Advisory Committee). Two clearly identified their "cycling bias" and one did not. The one who did not was accepted. He burned out due to the large number of volunteer hours required to implement the Undesignated Trails Policy and has retired from the MAC. Now, lets look at some of the other things that CMBA has done to participate. CMBA has sent a number of members to trail school to learn the proper way to design, build and maintain natural trails. There are ways to build and maintain trails that make them more enjoyable for users, easier and less costly to maintain and more environmentally friendly. (As an aside the City does not have a single individual that has trail maintenance or building expertise.) Associated with this CMBA has made an investment in acquiring the trail maintenance tools necessary to actually do trail maintenance. We have worked with Parks & Recreation in the past to the benefit of all Calgarians. Take a walk around the south and east side of Glenmore reservoir. CMBA volunteers reclaimed many of the trails and enhanced the trail network there. The results are a visually pleasing improved trail system that is maintainable and environmentally sensitive. CMBA has also volunteered to help Parks & Recreation maintain trails in Nose Hill Park but have been turned down because (to paraphrase Parks & Recreation staff) seeing cyclists actually maintaining trails in Nose Hill Park would be politically unacceptable to the MAC and Friends of Nose Hill. CMBA is part of the trail patrol (principle group being the Bow Valley Mountain Bike Alliance) that has been set up with Parks Canada. Volunteers patrol open trails in Banff Park to aid people in distress and educate people regarding good environmental practices. This has been a major effort that many cycling groups have devoted many people hours of volunteer effort. Throughout the spring and summer CMBA holds trail maintenance days. These days are where members donate a day of time to maintaining a trail in Kananaskis Park. CMBA realizes that all users have an impact on the natural environment. We also realize that the enjoyment that we get from riding is based strictly on the beauty of the natural environment that we ride through. This is another way that we put back more than we take out. In summary CMBA has 3 goals they are education in environmental sensitivity, advocacy for fair access and maintenance to put back more than we take. None of our members are in this to fight. We do want to be treated on an equal footing with other users and have the ability to participate in open dialogue to use and protect the City's natural areas. Questions to ask those who are paid with your tax dollars (alderperson) and your community association president. 1.) Uncouple ecology from the process. It has been proven by science that cyclists have a lower impact on the environment than hikers and equestrians. Cyclists are not in an area for as long a period as hikers or equestrians. Cyclists also ride single file while hikers travel beside each other causing parallel track to be worn into the ground. Why do you persist in making this into an environmental issue when it is not? 2.) Is the ban truly enforceable? Is every trail going to be signed? How much will that option cost the taxpayer? If you put a sign on every trail then will that not be contrary to the idea of having Nose Hill remain an environmental preserve? If all of the trails are not going to be signed then how will park users be able to determine if they are recreating on a closed or open trail? Do you expect park users to remember which trails are closed and which trails are open by looking at a giant map at the start of an access point and then remember that map in their heads as they recreate in the park? If a park user comes upon an intersection with four different trails to continue on to; one closed to everybody, one open to everybody, one closed to cyclists and one closed to cyclists and dog walkers, what happens? Will a bylaw enforcement/police officer step out from behind a bush and give the park user a ticket if they happen to pick the wrong trail because there was not proper signage present? Is the assignment of officers, peace or otherwise really the proper use of taxpayers dollars when Calgary is experiencing more serious crimes such as murders? If cyclists restricted to only 18 trails what will happen when those trails receive a high amount of use? You are concentrating more cyclists, more users in general on fewer trails. The trails you do leave open are now very busy and are showing signs of wear and tear. Do you then decide to ban cyclists from those trails as well? Who will be banned next, dogs? Then people? Let's use some common sense, everybody pays taxes therefore everybody is entitled to the same amount of use of the park, same benefits and opportunities. I want to preserve the park, for future use by everybody, not a select few who have the leisure time to tell me what I can and cannot do. 3.) Are you aware that under Canadian Common Law if your name is on documentation that shows you were part of this process that you can be charged with criminal negligence with the filer incurring no financial cost (Filer has to provide documentation which we have plenty of.)? 4.) Do you realize that in a court of law when the judge asks the cyclist if they were riding on an "illegal" trail the cyclist will say no, that the judge will then turn to the arresting officer and ask them what trail the cyclist was on, the officer will say no (remember they are under oath) then the case will be over with. A great way to spend our tax dollars don't you think? 5.) If the city does not plan to have officers patrolling the park this summer (2000) then why is this issue being passed by council so soon? The reason to ask this question is because one alderperson (in the NW) has said that none of the trail by-laws are going to be inforced this summer and that this summer is just a test case. This summer is a monitor situation but there is going to be nobody in the park to monitor this situation. Are you feeling upset yet? I sure am! I am wondering if Calgary will ever shake the red off of it's neck, doubtful. Community Associations that have supported the MAC's recommendations Silver Springs Community Association
Banff Trail Community Association
Triwood Community Association
North Haven Community Association
Cambrian Heights Community Association
Dalhousie Community Association
Varsity Community Association
Edgemont Community Association
AGM Our annual general meeting will take place on Saturday, April 15, 2000 at noon. The location is Brewsters |
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