This past Saturday (March 7th, 2020) the Bear Valley Adventure Company attended a USFS Mountain Bike Trails Summit meeting in Sonora. The intent of the meeting was to get mountain bike users and advocacy groups together with USFS personnel to discuss the future of mountain biking in the Stanislaus National Forest.
The new Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor, Jason Kuiken, opened the meeting by letting the group know that mountain biking was a new recreation priority in the Stanislaus National Forest. Their #1 priority is fire and fuels management, but recreation, and specifically mountain biking, will be included in future planning processes and decision.
Mr. Kuiken acknowledged that trails can no longer be maintained by the USFS due to budget and staff constraints. The solution, and also a directive from Washington DC, is to partner with advocacy groups, such as the Bear Valley Trail Stewardship, who was also in attendance. Other advocacy groups present were Pinecrest Mountain Bike Association, Groveland Trailheads Mountain Bike Club, Motherlode Bicycle Coalition, and the Arnold Rim Trail. Mr. Kuiken expressed a positive and collaborative tone to getting the Stanislaus NF trails in better shape, and specifically through partnerships with advocacy groups.
The meeting continued with relevant USFS staff being introduced, and representatives from advocacy groups making presentations about their work, mission, and goals. It was clear that it was good for these groups and the USFS to meet and put names with faces, etc. It was also recognized that advocacy groups could reach out and work together, as is already the case with some groups.
As the meeting progressed the USFS shared the process that will eventually include mountain biking in the next summer recreation plan. An interesting situation, that is starting to be addressed, is how to inventory unauthorized trails. Specifically, the Pinecrest group is maintaining 160+ miles of trails that are mostly unauthorized. The USFS has started working with the Pinecrest group to prioritize and catalog these trails. Hopefully, many of these trails will get approved in the future. The USFS made it clear that creating unauthorized trails is not the right way to move forward. There are processes in place to resurrect or create new trails and it is important for groups or individuals to work with the USFS.
At the end of the meeting, the USFS shared a 9-minute movie trailer - “Pedal Driven - A Bikeumentary” that deals with unauthorized trails and the USFS. Coincidently this is where our new USFS Supervisor was last posted and active in the solution.
In general, the tone of the meeting was positive and encouraging. Relevant to our neck of the woods, is to keep supporting the work of the Bear Valley Trail Stewardship and know that the USFS is supportive and wants these groups to succeed. The end goal is to maintain and improve the trails in the Stanislaus National Forest.
Aaron Johnson
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Marketing & Events Manager
Bear Valley Adventure Company
