Mike Vandeman wrote:

SMS wrote:

Ronsonic wrote:

This whole conversation is absolutely bizarre to this Floridian. Here the
greatest threat to our wildlands and their flora and fauna are wild / feral
pigs. You can use an army of motorcycles to drive entire herds of horses
each dragging a mountain bike through our forests and marshes and it
wouldn't cause the damage these hogs do. Seriously. This is paper cuts to
chainsaws.

Well in many states, including California, they definitely have problems
with horses. It's not just the enormous trail damage (it's estimated
that one horse does more damage than 50 mountain bikes or 50 hikers),
but the mess, the smell, and the pollution. If we could buy each
equestrian a mountain bike to ride our parks would be much better off.

The problem with MV is that he hasn't studied any science because he
knows that the actual science totally contradicts his position. It's
called "argumentum ad ignorantiam" (argument from ignorance).

Every study shows that the impact of mountain bikers on erosion, plants,
and wildlife is less than or equal to the damage of hikers, and far less
than the damage of horses.

Mountain bikers move through an area quickly, minimizing the time that
they are disrupting wildlife, compared to hikers. Here's a similar
example: today we were kayaking in Elkhorn Slough near Monterey. One of
the volunteer docents that travels around by kayak asked us to move more
quickly through an area with sea otters (we were stopped watching them).
She said that to minimize the disruption to their activities it's better
to go through the area quickly. This is the same thing that mountain
bikers do.

If you knew ANYTHING about the research, you would know that NOT ONE
study addresses moving quickly. You are bluffing. The Wisdom et al
study proved that mountain bikers have more impact on elk than either
hikers or equestrians. Moving quickly didn't help them one bit. Like
ALL mountain bikers, you don't know what you are talking about, and
substitute LIES instead. No surprize there!

Crazy mother****er,

Have you not had your fill of the troubles your craziness causes you?
Why don't you leave this stuff to people who can think and act clearly
and responsibly? Go do the things that give you joy, and leave
quarreling about things to people who can be trusted to observe the
rules of social interaction.

Having a crackpot stalker in our group is no fun to us, but it's
surely even less fun to the crackpot. Win the game. Go commune with
nature, instead of hassling other more level-headed folks about it.
Find your favorite quiet spot and take some mindful deep breaths. Go
out and see if you can't feel the life force in a Genista and try to
make contact with it instead of trying to destroy it. Then try to see
that all things can find a rapport with the wilderness within their
own ability to grasp and appreciate it. Not your ability, but
theirs.

As long as their ways comply with common ethical and legal rules, you
are no more correct than they are in the ways you commune with
nature. Have your own way, and leave others to have theirs.

Chalo