"Dear Houston Parks Board Members:

The staff and board of the International Mountain Bicycling Association
(IMBA) respectfully submit this letter of comment and offer of assistance to members of the Houston Parks Board regarding Houston¹s Memorial Park trail system.
About IMBA

IMBA creates, enhances and preserves trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. Since 1988, IMBA has been bringing out the best in mountain biking by encouraging low-impact riding, volunteer trailwork participation, cooperation among different trail user groups, and innovative trail management solutions.

IMBA's worldwide network includes 32,000 individual members, more than 450 bicycle clubs, more than 100 corporate partners and an equal number of bicycle retailer members. IMBA's members live in all 50 U.S. states, most Canadian provinces and in 30 other countries.

IMBA as a Partner

IMBA would welcome the opportunity to partner with Memorial Park managers to create and implement creative solutions for the difficult trail management challenges in this special piece of public land. We also commend and encourage the hard work and volunteer spirit of the IMBA-affiliated Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA).

IMBA-affiliated clubs like GHORBA perform more than 500,000 hours of volunteer trailwork each year. Bicyclists are increasingly viewed by land managers as committed allies who are dedicated to environmental stewardship and improving trail opportunities for all users.

In Texas IMBA and IMBA clubs have been successful in developing sustainable trails in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, Amarillo, and several Texas State Parks. In Dallas, IMBA clubs have built twelve different trail systems including Cedar Hill and Johnson Branch state parks.

IMBA has Formal Partnerships with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service¹s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program. Our record of providing expert trails consulting, volunteer mobilization, and trail management solution have established IMBA as a credible and helpful partner. We take these relationships very seriously and are confident a Houston Parks /IMBA partnership would be successful.

IMBA Trail Experts Can Help Design Sustainable, Environmentally Friendly Trails

For six years, the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews have worked with land managers from local, state, and federal agencies to design, build, and maintain sustainable trails. To date, IMBA has helped plan hundreds of new trail systems and helped build more than 5,000 miles of new trails.

Thanks to extensive research and field testing of mountain bike trail construction and maintenance techniques, IMBA is revolutionizing the way trails are built. Today, properly constructed trails that are heavily used by hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers can endure for years with minimal maintenance.

Our teams have built trails in sensitive areas and turned hundreds of problem situations into trail solutions. They specialize in designing trail systems in challenging terrain and working with multiple, sometimes-hostile user groups.

IMBA Will Send Our Expert Trailbuilders to Memorial Park for Free

Every year our Trail Care Crews conduct hundreds of events around the country. They lead trailbuilding schools, volunteer trailwork sessions, or meeting one-on-one with land managers. We get hundreds of requests for our service.

Memorial Park in Houston is a top priority for our organization and we would enjoy the opportunity to work with your park staff.

What Off-Road Cyclists Want at Memorial Park

Singletrack or narrow, natural surface trail ­ is very important to off-road bicyclists. While doubletrack and gravel roads may offer excellent experiences for a wide variety of cyclists, roads do not provide the type of recreation experience that most intermediate and advanced riders seek.

Adding more roads or wide paths does not adequately improve off-road bicycling opportunities. When planning bicycling systems, roads should be considered primarily as links to non-motorized, singletrack trails.

Erosion and Building Trails in Sensitive Areas

Where the park staff face a problem of heavy erosion or other physical problems on a trail, the solution is rarely closing the route to particular user groups. Often, these problems can be resolved through trail re-routes, reconstruction, or maintenance, most with free volunteer trailwork. With the correct design and construction techniques, our crews can work through the most difficult situations.

For extraordinarily wet times of year, seasonal management may be another option. Further, bridges can be used to navigate sensitive areas, elevate riders above wetlands or boggy areas where user groups could damage the trail.

IMBA¹s Trail Care Crews work with sensitive environments everywhere, whether it¹s preserving a narrow singletrack in the Sonoran Desert, working around vernal pools that provide amphibian habitat in Vermont, dealing with sandy soils around the Great Lakes and Atlantic coastal areas, or building boardwalks in the Pacific Northwest through temperate rainforests. Trail solutions exist to protect the environment in most instances.

There is no better example of building in sensitive and demanding areas than the United Kingdom. In the last three years, IMBA has spent considerable time learning from and working with trailbuilders in the UK. The UK has numerous examples of trail systems on the fringe of urban areas that are built sustainably and managed for multiple user groups. These trails withstand the tests of a large number of users and 150 inches of rain a year. Through proper techniques and, in some cases, using imported material, trails can withstand significant impacts.

Another example is Palos Hills, a forest preserve near Chicago. IMBA and our local partnered with the Nature Conservancy and park managers to close, restore and revegitate some trails and rebuild and reopen others to keep mountain biking in the park and preserve conservation goals.

All of IMBA¹s work is done with government approval following appropriate environmental and social analysis. Our trailbuilders respect these critical steps.

Building Better Trails ­ IMBA¹s Book on Building Trails in Sensitive Areas

We have enclosed a copy of our book, Building Better Trails. It highlights trail techniques that have worked around the country and the world. Many of these methods can work at Memorial Park. Careful trail grade analysis, the 50% rule of trail grade, and other advanced techniques are explained in this important resource.

Scientific Evidence on the Impacts of Cycling

IMBA understands that trail use by all users can cause negative impacts to natural ecosystems. We seek to provide off-road biking opportunities that are environmentally responsible.

IMBA believes that no agency or scientist has enough information to compare the degree of ecological impacts caused by different non-motorized recreation forms. The relative effects on wildlife of people walking, running, horseback riding, off-road bicycling, or motorcycling on a trail are often argued, but with little science to resolve these issues.

The complexity in this debate is significant. Among the many parameters of wildlife impact are duration of impact, noise, and startling. Generally, hikers have longest duration, cyclists startle more, and motorcycles cause more noise, but there is little evidence to support any statements regarding the relative significance of these effects. The diversity of species affected greatly compounds the complexity.

Cycling has No Greater Impact than Hiking

It would be an error to single out bicycling ­ or, for that matter, any other non-motorized trail users ­ as especially harmful compared to other users. So if birds, deer, or other wildlife need privacy, then all recreation, not just one type, should be prohibited or seasonally restricted. Land managers should be careful in discriminating between non-motorized uses when considering the ecological impacts of trails.

Very few studies have compared the erosion impacts of various forms of trail use, and only one has included bicycling in such comparisons. With such limited science, decisions to prohibit trail use by one user group because of their allegedly excessive trail damage may be difficult to support. More often, the proper management response is to reconstruct or realign the trail. GHORBA and IMBA would welcome the challenge.

Trail and Ecosystem Damage

It's important to distinguish between damage to trails and damage to ecosystems. When erosion from a trail or road causes sedimentation into streams, that may be an ecological problem that warrants corrective action. But where the route is far from a watercourse, the damage is often merely harm to the human transportation facility, akin to potholes in pavement, which are a nuisance but not a serious problem. At stream crossings, there are several actions that can reduce or eliminate sedimentation. The most effective action usually is to reduce the grade of the approaches to the stream crossing. Bridges, armored crossings, rolling grade dips, and trail hardening can also help.

Shared-Use Trails are the Best Model

Pedestrians, equestrians, and off-road cyclists should be able to share trails in a spirit of common courtesy and accommodation. When user conflict occurs, land managers should employ or select strategies that resolve the problem while preserving high quality experiences. There are many management options short of separating or eliminating uses ' such as education, peer-patrolling, or alternating days ' which can work to manage diverse uses compatibly.

Building Trails in Urban Areas ­ An IMBA Special Program

Houston designated as a Hot Spot for 2003.

Urban mountain bike trail access is one of the most difficult challenges IMBA faces. As cities continue to expand and open space dwindles, it's becoming more and more difficult for cyclists and other trail enthusiasts to find convenient places to enjoy the outdoors. The IMBA Hot Spots program focuses on improving urban trail access and advocacy resources.

Urban access isn't an easy issue to solve. In most cities across North America, off-road bicyclists and other trail visitors are forced to get in their cars and drive at least an hour for quality trail experiences. Trails located close to urban areas are often choked with too many users and may not provide the peaceful fun ride or walk that people desire. The IMBA Hot Spots program concentrates on a handful of cities each year and we have designated Houston as a Hot Spot for 2003.

Memorial Park is the only singletrack riding opportunity available to Houston off-road bicyclists. Bikers are legitimate recreation users just like joggers, hikers, equestrians, golfers, etc. The United States has more than 30 million mountain bicyclists and Houston, roughly 20,000. Park planners have a responsibility to provide trail opportunities to their constituencies.

Social Impacts

With regard to the social impacts of recreation, the science is less complicated and better developed.

To date, there is no information to support the claim that the presence of bicycles on shared-use trails increases the risk to other trails users' safety. The few existing studies indicate that mountain bicyclists have an excellent safety record, requiring few rescue efforts. Safety is probably less of a concern on singletrack trails compared to roads because bicycles travel at lower speeds on singletrack.

IMBA Condemns Unauthorized Trailbuilding ­ Don¹t Penalize the Majority of Legitimate, Responsible Bicyclists Because of a Minority of Inconsiderate Trail Users

IMBA does not promote or condone unauthorized trailbuilding. All trails should be built working closely with local land managers and through the formal planning process.

Every user group has a few bad apples: hikers, equestrians, golfers, etc. The inconsiderate behavior is typical of the individual, not the mode of transportation. No user group, or society for that matter, will ever be able to police their entire population. Most mountain bicyclists in Houston ride responsibly, volunteer for trailwork, and condemn inconsiderate behavior and renegade trailbuilding.

National Mountain Bike Patrol

To assist all trail users and police bicyclists, IMBA leads the National Mountain Bike Patrol (NMBP). The NMBP organizes and supports 75 volunteer bike patrols throughout the United States and around the world. Patrollers provide assistance to hikers, equestrians, and especially off-road bikers. They give information, provide directions, help with minor repairs, and provide first aid. Mountain bike patrols work in cooperation with land managers to meet the specific needs of their local riding area.

IMBA Can Help the Houston Parks Board Build Sustainable Trails

Trails are designed and built in sensitive areas and managed for multiple users all over the country and the world. IMBA would welcome the opportunity to share these techniques and solutions with Memorial Park leaders.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Hill Abell
IMBA Vice President

cc Wallace, Roberts & Todd, LLC"
Submitted by Chris Case