Chuck, Let us not compare apples to oranges. Mountain biking does no more damage, per user, than hiking. In the case of the John Muir trail you have a very large user group from Madison to Chicago using the trail. This is due to the limited amount of mountain bike trails for the user group; therefore those trails open to biking are used extensively. Let's not forget that the mountain bikers also due most of the trail maintenance on the John Muir trail and the main cause for the erosion was the DNR using ski trails for mountain bike trails. Very rarely is this a good idea due to the design of the trails. Hikers, and I am also a hiker, have many more opportunities to hike. Almost all the state, and county parks have trails. Hikers are also allowed to use the wildlife refuges and other wildlife areas. Hikers are also allowed to use the Nature Conservancy property. Back to the Capital City Trail. The capital city trail is a paved mini-road. Most of the damage was due to the laying of asphalt and expanding and contacting of the ground due to temperature change, not from biking. If bikers should be changed for using the Capital City trail then ALL user groups should. Cheers, --- Chuck & Linda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Michael, > > I must say as someone who does not bike on the > trails but have seen > perfectly nice trails turn into rutted out trails, > dirt where there was > grass, I can see the need to charge the people who > are creating this > excessive wear on the trails. When there are bikers > out, the trails are not > safe for hikers. The following example of a state > park (Kettle Moraine) I > used to hike on the now bike trail for years, now it > is a rutted out trail > and unsafe for hikers. I have seen State Parks > creating trails for bikers > and when I look at these trails I see roots that are > going to be continually > battered by the bikes. I say charge the bikers and > use the money to minimize > damage. Your bikes in the woods are not the innocent > healthy things you > portray, they damage, therefore they should pay. > > Chuck > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael D. Barrett > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 3:41 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [sustaindane] trail fees? > > Hi Kathy, > Just a quick note to let you know that the proposal > to charge county > trail fees for bicyclists is heating up big time on > the email lists > of several organizations (Bicycle Transportation > Alliance's bikies, > Bombay Bicycle Club and various racing teams' email > lists). They are > questioning why there is such a push to penalize a > mode of > transportation that does everything we want: > family-oriented > recreation & transportation, clean transportation, > healthful > transportation & recreation, transportation & > recreation that > promotes community & inhibits sprawl & on & on. > > Everybody recognizes that there are fiscal > constraints on county > government, but there are legitimate questions as to > why this has to > be put on those doing the right thing. Many people > have commented > that it would be more reasonable to raise the rates > at the county > parking ramp as well as the parking fees at county > parks. That is to > say, those who do the polluting should be paying, > not those > preventing pollution. > > A lot of folks, including myself, are pretty shocked > that this is > even being considered. We are spending a heck of a > lot of > (volunteer) time going to city, county & state > meetings fighting the > good fight to to prevent highways, sprawl, dirty > air, dirty water, > etc., etc. To find ourselves having to fight this > is, well, > disheartening to put it mildly. > > Sincerely, > Mike Barrett > > ================================================= > > To send messages to members of this group, send > email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To modify your subscription settings or see the > archive: > http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/sustaindane > > Sustain Dane Website - http://www.sustaindane.org > * Information on Sustain Dane and SD activities > * Madison Area Green Pages > - local organizations (135+) > - local businesses (growing selection) > * Resource Collections > - articles, organizations, publications and more > on many topics > * Approaches and Good Examples > * Much more > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > ================================================= > > To send messages to members of this group, send > email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To modify your subscription settings or see the > archive: > http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/sustaindane > > Sustain Dane Website - http://www.sustaindane.org > * Information on Sustain Dane and SD activities > * Madison Area Green Pages > - local organizations (135+) > - local businesses (growing selection) > * Resource Collections > - articles, organizations, publications and more > on many topics > * Approaches and Good Examples > * Much more > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ===== Steve F. Tudisco III http://www.geocities.com/sftudisco/ "We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." - Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/
