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News » COTA Statement on Rogue Trail Building
Posted on 11/25/2009 by woodystarr
With your help over the past 17 years, COTA has grown to become both credible and effective at what it does, namely maintain, design and build trails. We have grown wiser and more pragmatic; COTA’s primary partners in all this trail development are U.S. Government agencies, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. They are charged to manage the lands within their respective jurisdictions for the benefit of us citizens. When an agency decides to partner with an all-volunteer group to help achieve their mission the group doesn’t just earn some credit, it has to own some of the liability. Such groups are valuable partners for future trail development, the agencies know this.
At times it seems that it takes forever to establish new trails and experiences for the average mountain biker's increasing levels of skill and demands for new opportunities. It might seem we are playing catch-up more than leading the way. Admittedly, one or two people can act quickly to create something that fits their particular need. COTA once was a small group of enthusiasts such as this. However, those days are over, and with the increased use of trails it has become more important to collaborate with land managers if we are to succeed in creating sustainable new trail experiences.
COTA has been working for several months to craft a set of “Standards” for trails in Central Oregon. We have worked with vested trail lovers and agency officials, and we have taken the best parts of IMBA, USFS and especially Whistler Trail Standards to create a Central Oregon Trail Standard we think will allow us to expand and indeed progress. This also will require patience but it has been borne of many dozens of years of combined experience and actual work right here in Central Oregon. We are close. We need to maintain our relationships with land managers in order to succeed. When illegally built trails appear on the landscape, we lose some of our credibility and some of our forward momentum.
We are at a crucial stage in the history of mountain biking. We are finding we do have a strong voice, albeit not entirely united yet. COTA values the work involved in creating and maintaining (all) our trails and because of this, the threat of trail closures is virtually non-existent here. Not so in other regions where rogue trail builders are busier. In such cases any agency would be left no choice but to restrict ALL mountain bikers. Once one sits at the same table with land managers and compares the needs of each group, we find we are not so different. The methods and outcomes might vary but the big picture is people are recreating outdoors.
Please continue aiding COTA’s efforts by making a year-end donation, renewing your membership or getting involved. Stay tuned for more on the Central Oregon Trail Standards, trail stewardship with our Adopt-a-Trail program, and more trail-work events in 2010.
Thanks for your support!