Mountain Biker Caught Riding Illegally in a RAMSAR Heritage Wetland Site!

Burns Bog is a RAMSAR heritage wetland site! What was a mountain
biker doing there anyhow?

Mike


Biker rescued from Burns Bog
October 11, 2006 - 9:24 am
By: Treena Wood

DELTA (NEWS1130) - A biker in Delta has a story to tell this morning
after being rescued from waist deep water and mud in Burns Bog.
He was out riding just before 8:00 when he went off the trail, got
lost and ended up in the drink. He called the police, but lost his
cell connection.
The biker was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and rescue crews were
worried he'd get hypothermia. Luckily he had a flashlight and was
able to signal the RCMP helicopter with it.
He was pulled out of the muck and taken to Delta Hospital for
observation


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vancouver Province and Victoria Times Colonist Newpapers had the
story that began with:


Biker rescued from Burns Bog
A mountain biker had a close call in Burns Bog after he fell into
waist-deep mud and then got lost in the dark. (I do not subscribe to
these two newspapers, so this was all I could get)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyclist gets bogged down at risky Burns spot
Nicholas Read
Vancouver Sun


Thursday, October 12, 2006


DELTA - A 35-year-old Delta cyclist learned the hard way Tuesday
evening that Burns Bog can be a dangerous place to ride a bike.

The man, whose name has not been released, was rescued just before 10
p.m. by Delta police and firefighters after being stranded in the cold
and wet for almost 90 minutes.

At one point, he was waist-deep in mud and water, said police Const.
Rick Peeler.

Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it, but the man was
riding in a part that is privately owned and closed to the public.
Much of the bog is treacherous and, if you put a foot wrong, it is
easy to get sucked into it.

The man, who was dressed only in a T-shirt and shorts when he set out
for his ride, did have the presence of mind to bring a cellphone and
flashlight with him, and that's what saved him, Peeler said.

He called police on his cell around 8 p.m. Tuesday, to report that he
was lost. When police couldn't find him, a search-and-rescue
helicopter was able to pick him out of the dark when he shone his
flashlight.

"He was very cold and wet," Peeler said. "They took him to the
hospital for observation, but he was released later."
===
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.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

Did you say something?

In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.


--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html

Published 07/11/02 in issue #23 of The Hook

BY COURTENEY STUART



There's a lesson to be learned from the dust-up over the Rivanna Trail:
don't mess with property rights.

As reported in last week's cover story, "Trail Nix," the Rivanna Trails
Foundation, whose nearly accomplished goal is marking and clearing a
continuous 20-mile trail around the City of Charlottesville, failed to
obtain permission from long-time Bland Circle resident Shirley Presley and
her neighbors when it added the stretch of trail that starts near the VFW
Lodge on River Road nearly seven years ago.

Though some neighbors welcome the trail across the Rivanna River flood-plain
portions of their property, Presley says she now feels threatened by the
hikers, bikers, and dog walkers-- some of whom she claims are vandalizing
her property and trespassing farther up on her land.

City land records indicate that Presley has lived on the property since
1970. But in late June, she erected a bulky blockade of brush, spray-painted
it yellow, and added multiple No Trespassing signs. In doing so, she touched
off the tempers of some outdoorsy types-- many of whom had come to see the
popular pathway as public domain.

Indeed, before the blockade had been up for two weeks, a hiker dismantled it
in a fit of rage witnessed by a Hook staffer who arrived during the
destruction.

"It's a dangerous situation," says Presley's attorney Frederick Payne,
expressing outrage that "a so-called public interest group" would
"encourage" trespassing.

The Foundation's failure to secure permission before placing that stretch of
trail on its map was an "oversight," says Foundation board member and former
president John Conover.

"We're concerned that she gets what she wants," says Conover, who dropped a
letter by The Hook offices earlier this week.

"Ms. Presley has the right to her land," Conover's letter states. "We never
claimed otherwise. If our map was misleading, we apologize in public as we
have done in private."

And the solution to the dispute? At least for now it's not a hefty payment
that could open the floodgates to other claims and result in the demise of
the non-profit Foundation.

"We will maintain the continuous nature of the trail at the expense of
leaving the waterway," Conover writes. "As soon as possible, we will open a
detour through the City parkland bordering Meadowcreek, along Locust Avenue
and River Road, and returning to the trail on the Rivanna by the VFW Lodge.
For the next month or so, there will be no through trail. Sorry."

(Ironically, some of he land the detoured Trail will now traverse is owned
by Stan Tatum, the developer who enraged the neighborhood association three
years ago with a short-lived plan to build on City park land.)

So is Presley satisfied? Her lawyer, Payne, says he can't respond to the
letter since he hasn't yet been contacted directly by Conover or the
Foundation.

"We're gathering information," says Payne. "We're not in a position to say
what Mrs. Presley will do long-term."

To that end, he says Presley is having her property resurveyed so that she
can be sure exactly where her land begins and ends.

Payne says he'd like to remind people that anyone who walks on that trail is
"committing a crime." And he hopes the Foundation will do everything in its
power to undo the problems it has caused. "You disseminated the
misinformation," he says of the Foundation, "you can disseminate the correct
information."

Whether the steps the Foundation has taken and those it plans to take are
enough to satisfy Presley long term remains to be seen.

For those considering vigilante justice against Presley or any other
property owners who might object to the trail, Conover's letter leaves no
doubt about where the Foundation stands on the issue: "Respect the trail.
Respect the owners. If you have questions, please call us at 923-XXXX."

But Conover also makes it clear he'd love to bring the trail off the asphalt
and return it to the banks of the Rivanna River. "If she changes her mind,"
he says of Presley, "we'll put it back."

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD". But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:42:14 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
wrote:

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD". But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several

illegal

riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.


===
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.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:42:14 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
wrote:

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD". But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

YOU can't read:

"Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it, but the man was
riding in a part that is privately owned and closed to the public."

Mountain biker Joshua Putnam DELIBERATELY QUOTED THAT OUT OF CONTEXT,
and you obviously didn't bother to read it. AS USUAL. Idiot.

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.


===
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.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

In article ,
says...
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:42:14 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
wrote:

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD". But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

YOU can't read:

"Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it,

Which answers your question about what a mountain biker was doing in the
bog.

but the man was
riding in a part that is privately owned and closed to the public."

Which has nothing to do with your question about what a mountain biker
was doing in the bog. Perhaps the question you meant to ask isn't the
one you actually asked? After all, your writings aren't known for being
either clear or intellectually honest.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html

The article, which you posted, specifically states:
"Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it,..."

Below you state "illegal", yet the article does not.

Either you do not ready very well for a guy with a "PhD", or you are once
again lying.

I have to laugh and shake my head at what you are trying to do. It is funny
in a sad, sick way.

"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:42:14 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
wrote:

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD".
But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message
. ..
In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several

illegal

riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.

"Roberto Baggio" wrote in message
news:OMmYg.145773$R63.102378@pd7urf1no...
The article, which you posted, specifically states:
"Burns Bog has several riding and hiking trails in it,..."

Below you state "illegal", yet the article does not.

Either you do not ready very well for a guy with a "PhD", or you are once
again lying.

I have to laugh and shake my head at what you are trying to do. It is
funny
in a sad, sick way.

"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:42:14 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
wrote:

LOL!

This Vandeman character doesn't read very well for a guy with a "PhD".
But
he must have thick skin to be getting shot down so frequently.

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message
. ..
In article ,
says...

Burns Bog has several

illegal

riding and hiking trails in it

Guess that answers your question.



"The purchased area is protected by a Land Covenant and is an Ecological
Conservancy Area where the primary goal is that of conservation and not
human access. The GVRD is developing a long-term (100 year) management plan
and will be releasing their report in March 2006.** All access to the
central portion of the bog is currently closed. Until the release of the
long term management plan, the purchased area of Burns Bog is strictly off
limits."
http://www.burnsbog.org/about/