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Mountain B ik e
A c c es s Deb ated
at Oak M ount ain
by Ken McCoyEnvironmental problems promise to
be the hot political topic of the 19905,
and with the increase in pUblic apprecia-
tion of nature, new issues seem to cropup as quickly as others are laid to rest.
In Birmingham, as well as in other
parts of the country, a n ew problem that
threatens to pit nature-lover againstnaturalist is becoming an issue. On the
surface it seems to be a simple question
of whether a new breed of outdoor ac-tivity, mountain biking, should be al-lowed on the tIails of our state parks.
But upon closer inspection, one finds
that this question is rooted in the much
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Chattanooga Choo Choo?
With - a gush of steam and a spout of
black smoke, the age ofsteam trains willreturn to Birmingham this month. On
Saturday, March 31, and again on Sun-
day, April I, locomotive N o. 611 willchug its way to Chattanooga from Bir-
mingham with a load of excited pas-
sengers.
Choo, the Freight Depot and the many
interesting shops.
The J-type locomotive was built in theearly 19405, and the first of its kind
travelled over a million miles. It weighs
over 900,000 pounds and consumes six
and a half tons of coal per hour.The train will leave Birmingham at 7
am. will return around 8:30 p.m. All
profits of the trip will be used to build
and maintain the Heart of Dixie Rail-
road Museum in Calera, Alabama. Tick-
ets are S55 per person, and if purchased
in groups of 25 or more, will cost $50 per
person. To order, call 252-2716 or sendcheck or money order and SASE to
Steam Excursion, P.O. Box 254, Birmin-
gham, AL 35201.
Kid's Stuff , , " iO:mcerts . . , . , ,', 8Musicat theQubs ,1~ i'1Art s & Education " . 12Recreation &,Sports ,15
The annual e xcursion, sponsored by
the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in
cooperation with the Norfolk-Southern
Railroad, will depart from the site of the
old Birmingham Terminal Station at 2nd
Avenue and 26th Street North. Uponreaching Chattanooga, the train will lay
over for three hours while passengers
explore the historic Chattanooga Choo
Directories Cyclist on unauthorized BlueTrail at Oak Mountain.
Please Turn to "Bikes" Page 2NJg ht club s , , ,Restaurants
Southern Danceworks will huthe road to "The Big Easy"this spring. The
Southern Danceworks Professional Com-
pany has been invited to perform at the
..National DanceAssociarion Conference in
New Orleans. To kick off this toUT,the
company will be presenting a "Favoriles"
repertory concert on March 23rdand 24th
al Southern Danceworks SrudUJrrheatre.
Some of the pieces to beperformed are "The
Ball Dance, " "Not Built for Comfort" and
"Echo." Dancers will include Sylvia Toffe~Melanie Sokol, Anthony Longobardi,
Suzan ne T ichel~ Mary Foshee, Ginger
~an and Lyn Buchanan. Performances
will begin al 8p.m TU:kelsare $8 general
admission and $6for students and senior
citizens. Forreservations and information,
call 322-6483.
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7/27/2019 BUMP Article_03/01/1990
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Fun&Stuff 2
-BIkes- from Pg. 1larger issue of how state and national, public lands
should be used and maintained.
Mountain biking isa relatively new sport, an offshoot
of the endurance or triathalon competitions that are so
popular, particu1arly in the western states. The bike is
designed for rigorous going, with large knobby tires,
straight handlebars and a rugged frame. The appeal of
the sport seems to be that one can enjoy the wonders
of nature while pitting one's denerity and strength
against anything from relatively easy to tortuous ter-
rain.The conflict arises when mountain bikers begin com-
peting with hikers and backpackers for use of trails onpublic lands.
At Oak Mountain State Park, officials were caught
somewhat unprepared for the surge of interest in thespon. After complaints about the mountain bikes
from hikers, park officials designated the park's Red:rrail as the only authorized trail for bicycles, leaving
~e park's other trails for use by hikers. This has
proven difficult to enforce, and hikers now complain
$it cyclists are using unauthorized tr ails.
'"We are currently in the process of trying to promul-
gate a regulation through the State Conservation
Department to make it a finable offense to ride(bicycles) on unauthorized trails," said Park Ranger
Bob Gallahar, "but it's a pretty long process. Right
now we are only able to give verbal warnings (to
violators)." .Carl Scardina, natural resource supervisor for
Alabama's state parks, said that lime is needed to
decide on a proper policy. "We don't have enensiveexperience with mountain bikes," he said. "We want
to assess the situation from personal experience rather
than from hearsay." Allowing the cyclists access to the
Red Trail is a way to study the effects of bikes on the
trails, he said. "Once we've done that, we can create a.
policy."But uncooperative cyclists could cause the problem
to be dealt with more abruptly. "People who abuse the
privilege could very well ruin it for everyone. They'recutting their own throats," Scardina said. "We are real
concerned about fads. Is the mountain bike here to
stay, or is it just another hula-hOOp? We have to do
what will benefit the most people for the longest periodoftime," he said.
"With the increased metropolitan sprawl, in the fu-. ture Oak Mountain may be the only place in the area
that you can go to see a forest We need to protect theresources," Scardina said.
Bill Harrington, spokesperson for the Southern Off-
Road Bicycle Association (SORBA), said, "We think
it's a usage problem rather than a mountain bike prob-
lem. What we have is a lot of people competing for a
limited resource." .Mountain bikers are dissatisfied with being restricted
to the Red Trail. "The Red Trail presents the least
amount ofchallenges to amountain biker," Harrington
said.
But hikers are angry at what they see as an intrusionby fast-moving vehicles on trails that were meant to be
travelled by fool.
"They are such a hazard that I don't think they shouldbe allowed in the park," said Les Miller, of the Vulcan
Trail Association. Hikers' complaints include being
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forced off t he narrow trails by fast-moVing cyclists,
damage to trails such as ruts and crumblingswitcJibacks
and the disruption of the natural setting by vehicu1aI>
(although non-motorized) traffic. The latter com~'
plaint maybe the true heart of the matter. Until recent-ly, exclusion of motorized vehicles from hiking and
wilderness areas in state and national parks was suffi-
cient to keep these areas clear of most evidence of
modern society. But with the enhanced design of
mountain bikes, even the most remote and ruggedareas can be reached by cyclists, and the rules don't
cover human powered vehicles.
The question of how much damage the bikes causeto trails is also a subject of debate. Harrington feels
that just as much damage is done to the trails by foottraffic as by bicycles. Miller feels otherwise. "rm out
there leading hikes two to four daYS,.aweek and I cansee the damage. They are a destruCtive force ou thetrails," he said.
"We haven't done a formal study, but we have lookedinformally at the problem," said Park Naturalist Bryan
Phillips. "We know that bikes have more impact on atrail with a grade because ifit is rutted it will erode. We
are allowing them to use the Red Trail because it isbestsuited for bikes. It's an old road bed," he said.
Although Harrington agrees that bikes are "not ap-propriate forall trails," he doesn't think they should be
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Left: Damage to Red T r ail by mountain bik es.
is authorized for use by cyclists.
Top: Group o f cyclists takes a break at jun ction o f O r angeand Blu e Trail s, both unauthoriud trails.
excluded entirely from the park. "I would rather see
(enforced fines) than no bicycles period," he said.
SORBA plans to provide a brochure to be handed out
at the park entrance which would inform cyclists of the
rules and proper courtesy 'practices for riding in the
park, he said. But he admits that there will always be
some people who are discourteous and unconscien-
tious.
Public 'land use policy has been a problem
throughout the history of the United States andprontises to become more problematic in the future.
"The answer is for all interested parties to worktogether," said Harrington.
"rd be happy to meet with interested parties at thepark," said Scardina. Anyone interested should writeto: 0UlScardina, Natural Resources Supervisor, AJab
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