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[pct-l] re: Dirt Bikes on the PCT



Tim Conners wrote

>4) Actively work for ways to reduce the freedom that dirt bikers have on
>public lands. I am generally opposed to unwarranted restrictions of
>personal freedom. Call me a hypocrite, but when it comes to dirt bikes, I'd
>love to see them severely restricted. They don't have a place in the arid
>parts of this country. Their range is too wide, the damage they cause is
>too great, and as proven by their ranks, their owners are not very
>effective at policing themselves. (Perhaps if the green sticker fee was
>raised to a value equal to the tremendous damage control and government law

Tim, I heartily agree with you on all the issues that you raise except the one
I have quoted here.  Please hear me out.  I am a veteran thru-hiker, general
wilderness lover AND I own a dirt bike.  I use my bike to ride on abandoned
mining roads to access country where I wouldn't go otherwise, or beaches that
take me to interesting places, as well as places where dirt bikes are legal
(designated riding areas).  A lot of places where I go would be designated
wilderness areas if they were in the lower 48 (I live in Alaska).  It
embarasses me sometimes how noisy it is but I put up with it.  Anyway, none of
this is the issue.  Off road vehicles are illegal on the PCT, there are a lot
of bad eggs out there who need to be stopped.  On my thru-hike, I ran into a
couple of bikers on the trail and stopped them to tell them they were illegally
on the trail; they listened, partially I think because I shared that I also
rode a dirt bike, then turned around and left the way they had come.  In all
fairness, it was not posted but I don't think the entire trail has to posted
with all the activities that are illegal.  They might have turned around
because my buddy was ready to bury his ice axe in their gas tanks if not their
skulls.  I also remember the sad state of Jawbone Canyon (this in 1975; it must
be worse now) and this type of activity needs to be stopped.  However, I think
that if there were designated riding areas on public lands near the PCT (not
adjacent to the trail but let's say within 50 miles), that this might relieve
the PCT of most illegal riders.  If we assume that most riders are good people
with a conscience to do the right thing, and they had a place to ride, this
might work.  Of course, if you know that this has been tried and the results
are still the same, then certainly stronger measures might be necessary to
preserve the integrity of the PCT.

Alan
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