For the week of August 21 - 27, 2002

Cyclists oppose Boulder-White Cloud wilderness

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Mountain bike meeting Friday

What? The International Mountain Bike Association will host a meeting in an attempt to organize local mountain bikers on potential Boulder-White Cloud wilderness designation.

Where? The Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau meeting room on the corner of Fourth and Main streets in Ketchum.

When? Friday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Potential for designation of a Boulder-White Cloud wilderness area has gotten the attention of an international bike advocacy group.

The International Mountain Bike Association will host a meeting in Kethhum Friday night to try to organize opposition to a unilateral wilderness designation of the Boulder and White Cloud mountain ranges, which are home to hundreds of miles of single-track trails.

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has said he will consider introducing a Boulder-White Cloud wilderness bill in congress. However, he has been working to appease stakeholders, and, in an interview with the Mountain Express last fall said there was still a lot of work to do.

Mountain bikers, off-road vehicle users, ranchers and environmentalists are the key stakeholders to emerge so far.

Although the Idaho Conservation League, one of Idaho’s most prominent environmental groups, has proposed leaving at least one popular mountain bike ride outside of wilderness area boundaries, IMBA contends that is not enough.

"The Boulder and White Cloud mountains fit into the epic ride category," said IMBA Idaho State Representative Chris Cook. "We’d be willing to give up some, but not all, of the mountain biking opportunities."

Mountain bike rides in the two mountain ranges can be long and grueling, but rewarding, Cook said. Even so, a majority of mountain bikers rarely ride into the depths of the rugged ranges. Sawtooth National Recreation Area trail use statistics indicate that approximately 97 percent of the bike use in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains is on the popular Fisher Creek-Williams Creek loop, the trail for which environmentalists will not seek wilderness protection.

IMBA’s general position is in favor of wilderness designations where it does not close out historical mountain biking opportunities, Cook said.

"Part of the single track experience is to go out for the wilderness experience, not the big ‘W’ but the little ‘w’. The little ‘w’ is us going out and enjoying the natural settings."

But wilderness designation is not just a matter of who gets to use a given part of the earth, said ICL Central Idaho Director Linn Kincannon. Wilderness designation preserves an area for future generations.

"It’s like having a trust for your children, something you want to pass on them," she said. "You want to give them something they’ll have choices about."

Kincannon said preserving the area’s natural quiet, natural heritage and wildlife habitat is an important step that needs to be taken.

"Mountain biking is not allowed in wilderness, because mechanized and motorized activities are not allowed. We do not have the opportunity in Idaho to change the Wilderness Act. We have to go with what the act says. We think it’s important to protect the Boulder-White Clouds now."

 

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