japerry
Well-Known Member
I just came back from the Galbraith Meeting, and I'll tell ya--these guys have their **** together. Some key components:
* A well organized and synchronized group. Everyone is in agreement that Galbraith needs to be saved and used for recreation. No one is advocating taking out the dangerous trails, and in fact they joked about how they give economic stimulus to St. Joseph's hospital (No joke, this was said in the council meeting!)
* A good working relationship with the county council, mayors office, city council, and land owner.
* Find funding sources that all them to save their land. And better yet, bring conservation groups in to fund the park so it will effectively ban any motorized development there.
* People. The chambers was filled with as many people as we saw at the big Reiter meeting. They're coming in droves and not giving up
* Good core group. A group of 5 to 10 people are tirelessly working on making sure Galbraith stays in public trust, and mtn biking first.
What has the wheeling community done wrong?
First, agreeing with the government to let them drive the planing process. Most of the mtn bike projects are funded, spearheaded, and managed by the user groups. They're not letting the government take over planning of their park. We failed here by putting the onus on DNR to develop a recreation plan. The ORV community should have inked a stewardship agreement with DNR instead of asking DNR to manage the area like WV.
Secondly, not figuring out what the goals are for the community as a whole. no one in the mtn bike community thinks waiting 5 years until they can ride is acceptable. Its amazing that the 'guys' as we all refer to them think that riding out the Reiter process is acceptable. Its not. And we see that in the many other places people use illegally.
Lastly, not taking risks. Galbraith started as something illegal. Other mtn bike areas started as illegal. Groups stuck their necks out to do what they wanted, for the greater good of their sport. Sure enough, they got what they wanted, an agreement with the land owner to recreate on their lands without fear of prosecution. We can do the same.
So what is the point of all this?
a) Reiter is a lost cause, no need to resurrect coulda, shoulda, woulda. DNR manages it now, and there is nothing we can do about it. No need to 'take it back' or elsewise. Ship sailed, moving on.
b) the community needs to organize around an area and claim it.... the PNW, WOW, and other groups need to look at a dispersed wheeling spot and start building trails that are sustainable. Then they need to look into achieving critical mass and then use this momentum to get a stewardship agreement in place with the landowner. This could be DNR or private timber. but you have to be willing to stick your neck out first and take risks to get such an agreement.
c) stop by going off-trail. The mtn biking builders are very protective of their trails and land. They don't allow people to build rouge trails w/o internal approval. They don't let people ride wherever they want. We need to do the same. If we're going to be 'dispersed' wheeling, we should be doing it in some organized fashion. If we don't, it will turn into another reiter, you'll never get a stewardship agreement, and we all loose.
d) Put some time and effort into it. Be proud to be a builder. The mtn bikers are proud to be builders, they said that in the county council meeting. They proudly admitted they build trails, even though it is illegal!
So my question to everyone is, are you ready to get good wheeling back, now? Are you willing to stick your neck out for the greater good? There is a way to do it, but only united can we succeed.
* A well organized and synchronized group. Everyone is in agreement that Galbraith needs to be saved and used for recreation. No one is advocating taking out the dangerous trails, and in fact they joked about how they give economic stimulus to St. Joseph's hospital (No joke, this was said in the council meeting!)
* A good working relationship with the county council, mayors office, city council, and land owner.
* Find funding sources that all them to save their land. And better yet, bring conservation groups in to fund the park so it will effectively ban any motorized development there.
* People. The chambers was filled with as many people as we saw at the big Reiter meeting. They're coming in droves and not giving up
* Good core group. A group of 5 to 10 people are tirelessly working on making sure Galbraith stays in public trust, and mtn biking first.
What has the wheeling community done wrong?
First, agreeing with the government to let them drive the planing process. Most of the mtn bike projects are funded, spearheaded, and managed by the user groups. They're not letting the government take over planning of their park. We failed here by putting the onus on DNR to develop a recreation plan. The ORV community should have inked a stewardship agreement with DNR instead of asking DNR to manage the area like WV.
Secondly, not figuring out what the goals are for the community as a whole. no one in the mtn bike community thinks waiting 5 years until they can ride is acceptable. Its amazing that the 'guys' as we all refer to them think that riding out the Reiter process is acceptable. Its not. And we see that in the many other places people use illegally.
Lastly, not taking risks. Galbraith started as something illegal. Other mtn bike areas started as illegal. Groups stuck their necks out to do what they wanted, for the greater good of their sport. Sure enough, they got what they wanted, an agreement with the land owner to recreate on their lands without fear of prosecution. We can do the same.
So what is the point of all this?
a) Reiter is a lost cause, no need to resurrect coulda, shoulda, woulda. DNR manages it now, and there is nothing we can do about it. No need to 'take it back' or elsewise. Ship sailed, moving on.
b) the community needs to organize around an area and claim it.... the PNW, WOW, and other groups need to look at a dispersed wheeling spot and start building trails that are sustainable. Then they need to look into achieving critical mass and then use this momentum to get a stewardship agreement in place with the landowner. This could be DNR or private timber. but you have to be willing to stick your neck out first and take risks to get such an agreement.
c) stop by going off-trail. The mtn biking builders are very protective of their trails and land. They don't allow people to build rouge trails w/o internal approval. They don't let people ride wherever they want. We need to do the same. If we're going to be 'dispersed' wheeling, we should be doing it in some organized fashion. If we don't, it will turn into another reiter, you'll never get a stewardship agreement, and we all loose.
d) Put some time and effort into it. Be proud to be a builder. The mtn bikers are proud to be builders, they said that in the county council meeting. They proudly admitted they build trails, even though it is illegal!
So my question to everyone is, are you ready to get good wheeling back, now? Are you willing to stick your neck out for the greater good? There is a way to do it, but only united can we succeed.
