Mike Vandeman wrote in
:

On Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:25:31 -0700, SMS
wrote:

Bill wrote:


YOU ***NEVER*** WILL GET IT WILL YOU?

The important thing to remember is that all the experts, and all the
evidence agrees that trail impact and wildlife impact of hiking and
mountain biking is about the same.

If someone presents evidence to the contrary then of course it
deserves a look, but so far, no one has been able to present any.
You'd think that after all these years of mountain biking, someone
would have come up with some evidence if there were any. But they
haven't and there isn't.

I have. And most people don't care, because to them it's OBVIOUS that
mountain biking is more harmful than hiking.


So to summarize the facts regarding trail impact:

1. No scientific studies show that mountain bikers cause more wear to
trails than other users.

2. Hooves and feet erode more than wheels.

3. No significant difference between hiking and biking trail wear.

4. Minimal change from repeated bicycle passage.

5. Hiking and bicycling trample vegetation at equal rates.

6. Hiking and biking cause roughly the same impact to large mammals,
though in some cases hikers have more impact.

7. Hikers have more impact on bald eagles.

8. Bicyclists, because they travel faster, and more quietly than hikers,
are more likely to encounter bears (no doubt this will make MV happy!).

Anyway, the bottom line is that no one has shown any evidence that
bicycle impact on trails and wildlife is worse than hiker impact, and in
fact, in some cases the hikers have more impact on wildlife, due to
there tendency to be noisier and to travel through an area less quickly.





===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande



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