January 18, 2010 The Honorable Raul Grijalva Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and

Public Lands 1333 Longworth House Office Building United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Rob Bishop, Ranking Member Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands 1333 Longworth House Office Building United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Re: H.R. 3914 San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act of 2009 Dear Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop: On behalf of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) we write to support U.S Representative John Salazars (D-CO) H.R. 3914 the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act of 2009. IMBA endorses this proposal to bring strong public land protection to southwestern Colorado and urges the committee to pass the bill. Mountain bicyclists highly support protecting these cherished places and all roadless lands from development. We recognize the biological importance of preserving large expanses of undeveloped land. Mountain bicyclists value public lands for the same reasons as other quiet, low-impact users. We cherish the freedom, solitude, clean air, clean water and natural landscapes that bring us closer to nature. IMBA supports the proposed Wilderness Areas and thanks Representative Salazar for including a Special Management Area designation that will permit bicycling to continue in this backcountry setting. IMBA represents 80,000 supporters nationwide with 750 affiliated bike clubs. In Colorado, an epicenter for the cycling community, IMBA has 30 affiliated clubs and almost 8,000 members. Nationally, IMBA members conduct more than one million hours of volunteer service annually helping repair, build, and advocate for environmentally sound, sustainable trails. Our clubs help promote trails tourism, get children on bicycles, and are fervent open space and land protection supporters. The bill appears to have Wilderness boundaries that almost entirely avoid trails currently used by bicyclists. We appreciate the consultation with bicyclists undertaken by you and your staff and thank you for understanding that public land protection doesnt have to be at the expense of continued bicycle access. We request that you change the section of the bill dealing with the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area to allow the Forest Service the flexibility to allow mountain biking now and in the future. In the current configuration, this area would get a non-Wilderness designation, yet it includes a provision generally banning bicycling. Forest Service regulations are clear that bicycling is completely banned only in Wilderness Areas, but the Forest Service
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may allow bicycle use in all other congressional land management designations. We respectfully request the following change (deletion in strikeout): In Section 4(c)(2), for the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area: the use of motorized or mechanized vehicles, except as described in paragraph 3 . Science has increasingly demonstrated that the natural resource impacts of bicycling are about the same as the impacts of hiking and much less than motorized vehicles or horses. While IMBA supports the prohibition on permanent roads, we do not understand why the bill would explicitly prohibit bicycling in this non-Wilderness area when our use has been traditionally allowed and would not be detrimental to the land. The Act would generally ban bicycling in Sheep Mountain but allows for exceptions for our continued use of trails to which we currently have access. Paragraph three would allow activities, including heli-skiing, that have been authorized as of the date of the enactment of this Act. The designation shall not impact future permit processes relating to such activities. This seems oriented to motorized heli-skiing, which requires a permit, and not to bicycling, a dispersed, quiet activity not subject to permitting. We ask that you please insert the clear term of bicycling as there is no statutory definition for the confusing term mechanized. Please consider the following change to make our continued use more clear (additions underlined): (3): ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.The Secretary may allow activities, including helisking and bicycling, that are allowed as of the date of the enactment of this Act to continue within the area designated in subsection (a). The designation under subsection (a) shall not impact future permit processes nor travel management decisions relating to such activities. Thank you for considering these comments. IMBA supports H.R. 3914 and hopes the committee will move quickly to pass this important legislation. Mountain bikers love nature and are an intimately involved in Colorado public land protection campaigns. We support the Wilderness and Special Management areas in the bill and hope to work with you and your staff to create a bill that affords significant protection while allowing our non-motorized, low impact activity that is traditionally allowed in special designation areas. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely,

Jenn Dice Government Affairs Director

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