Action Alert: Waterloo Recreation Area

[G.Cook]

Did NOT mean to imply any disrespect to our MMBA Advocacy team . I appreciate the difficult task you guys have take on .
Any disrespect was meant for the DNR Waterloo Land mgr. and the bs he and his equestrian pals are peddling .

[cmkovick]

I got some pics of the section from Bush to Waterloo. Already signs of horses being on the trail with fairly fresh hoof prints and piles of poo. I have some video (low quality/digi cam) of the steep hill and swampy creek crossing. I bet this area will get beat up pretty good just from how easy human feet made tracks. Also a lot of moss lining the edges of the trail in this section...for a few more days at least.

[jajones]

Anyone who gives a ...er..."hoot" may want to respond to this piece.

http://www.heritage.com/articles/2011/0 ... 534812.txt

As an aside, take a look at the second to last paragraph and you will begin to understand why this event is an important issue for the mountain bike community to address (despite the fact that the event doesn't impact trail open year-round to mountain bikes) before things get out of hand. It reads...

If the event is a success, Simpson would like the group to tackle another ride that would run from Waterloo to Pinckney to Brighton.

Will it be a matter of time before equestrians are riding the Poto, Murray Lake, Torn Shirt, Island Lake? They have already requested access to some of these trails. And, if the mountain bike community doesn't nip this in the bud, we will have yet another Pontiac Lake or Fort Custer on our hands -- our trails co-opted and rendered unusable.

Wake up, people! Take a minute to understand that your focus on new carbon components, your race times, doing trail maintenance/upkeep and all the rest mean nothing if you don't have quality trails to ride. I'm not asking you to volunteer as the MMBA Advocacy Director. But, even if you send one email or letter on this issue it makes a world of difference. Why? It is simple. Most people don't. The equestrians are gaining ground because they have energy. They have focus. They have goals. They want to ride on the trails on which you ride. Read the article I posted. The Waterloo Horseman's Association Membership recently increased from 40 to 250 members. With few exceptions, collectively, Michigan mountain bike advocacy (and I mean "advocacy", not "trail maintenance and construction) has pretty much been in an apathetic state for over a decade. Although we have a small number of very good individual mountain biking advocates in the State, collectively, we've become fat, dumb and comfortable when it comes to advocacy. We simply can't afford another "Lost Generation" of advocates.

[adroit rider]

This is horse *beep*!

We need to prove the damage to the trail is unrepairable and convince the DNR to deny these permit requests for years to come!

[Washington Rider]

The part I don't understand is the equestrians have 'owned' Waterloo for years. The article points to them using this section on an ongoing basis and expanding in the future. What is so special about this section of trail that they need access to it? Is it geographical in that it allows them to get from a special point A to a special point B? Or is they have not maintained the trails they have and are just looking for a ready made trail? Has anyone seen the trails they do have? What condition they are in?

Insight on this would help us better frame our arguements for limiting future access if/when they do cause damage to this section.

[Paul Brown]

Anyone who gives a ...er..."hoot" may want to respond to this piece

About how long does it usually take for the MOD to approve or disapprove a comment?

edit, for clarity I should have said "editor" and not MOD when refering the the newspapers comment section.

[G.Cook]

What is so special about this section of trail that they need access to it?

They are well aware of the on going efforts of the Poto Chapter to gain access to Waterloo trails . It has been a process measured in years . This particular section , they are also well aware of , is part of the route accessed for the TTC . If they turn that section from single track to bridal path they are hoping that the threat of mountain bikers gaining access will go away . Who wants to ride a bridle path on a bike . Anybody enjoy riding the Lakeland Trail during the TTC ? No competition for trail from any other user group they then have free reign over any part of the Waterloo Trail system .
The only recourse to gain access for mountain bikers would be to offer to build new trail . If you think that will happen I have a big bridge I can sell you up north .
Recalling the circus surrounding the Density Use study a couple of years back , every comment card had the same comment from equestrians ,"Hikers aren't using this section can we have access ? " Comments from the mountain bikers , to paraphrase , "if we have access we will maintain and improve any section we have access to" . That was a $50,000 study and two years ago . No access . But the same section they deny us to use on a year round basis they are going to let the equestrians turn it into a beach in one day .
If you guys want to be brought up to speed on the Waterloo politics , which is directly related to this equestrian event which they would deny , you should contact JAJ or Bill Mayer .

[jajones]

What is so special about this section of trail that they need access to it? Is it geographical in that it allows them to get from a special point A to a special point B? Or is they have not maintained the trails they have and are just looking for a ready made trail? Has anyone seen the trails they do have? What condition they are in?

Insight on this would help us better frame our arguements for limiting future access if/when they do cause damage to this section.

I think the best answer is that they simply want to explore different trails. If there is a trail, and someone is a trail user (horse/foot/bike), they generally like to explore. Equestrians have never been allowed to go on the Waterloo trails west of Mt. Hope Rd. to Big Portage Lake, or, east of the Horseman's Campground off of Loveland Road. However, they have the run of the majority of the Waterloo trails system in the center of the unit. Historically, the big barrier coming East has been the Nature (Discovery) Center trails and the sensitive nature of the Waterloo-Pinckney Hiking Trail east of the Nature Center (big fall line hills). It has always been designated hiking only. As for the trails the equestrians have access to in Waterloo -- well, there is a reason they control them and why you never hear of mountain bikers poaching them. They are totally trashed. Scenic as they are, they are so gullied out and beachy, they are mostly unusable by foot and bike traffic. That is to say, they no longer provide for a desirable experience. All you need to know is that the fellow who organizes the Trail Marathon/Half Marathon and Dances with Dirt which run at Pinckney Rec each year used to host the DwD race run through the heart of Waterloo on the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail. He stopped holding the event there earlier last decade because the trail was so torn up, it was undesirable for running on. Interesting, when you consider the DwD runs through freak'in swamps and mud bogs. Apparently, those provide a more desirable running experience than equestrian trails. He also cited the fact the the equestrians made it *beep* for him to get the event permitted. They are on record as making it hard for other user groups to have events out there. I know another promoter of triathlons who was hassled, despite the fact that the event would utilized only multi-use (horse-hike) sections of Waterloo trails.

When I was MMBA President way back in the day, I had lunch with the former President of the WHA. It was supposed to be about finding common ground so that bikers and horses could share trails. He basically ended up telling me that they would fight to prohibit any bike access to any trails at Waterloo, that they wanted more access to trails they couldn't currently ride at Pinckney and at Waterloo, that he had lunch with the State Representative for our District every Tuesday and that they would be introducting legislation in the future that would bury us and advance their access. So far, it looks like he is a man of his word. This was back in the day when we were inviting equestrians to have horse petting pens at our Annual Expo, putting hiker/biker/equestrian kumbaya pictures on the cover of the BRB and talking about sharing as caring. In the meantime, they were starting to ride the trails we built at Fort Custer, reveling in their victory at Pontiac Lake and plotting their Right-to-Ride legislation that passed last year.

What we need to do going forward:

1. Firmly establish with the DNR at a policy level that, at least, in Southern Michigan, nonmotorized trails open up to equine use are NOT compatible with bikers and hikers and cannot be shared. We should not try to open up bike access to bridle trails and they shouldn't be permitted to open up access to existing hike/bike trails.
2. Push back when equine users try to co-opt use of nonmotorized trails that they didn't build and have no history on, WHETHER THEY ARE CURRENTLY OPEN TO BIKING OR NOT (encroachment precedent cannot be established).
3. Invest in lobbying legislature to introduce a "Right-to-Ride Trail" bill for cyclists.
4. Start drawing out the fact with the DNR, other users, legislature, etc. that on a percentage basis of Park and Rec Day Users, the equestrian user group is far smaller than foot and bike users. (DNR has data to support this) So, if the group is so small, why are they allowed to command such a presence at Park and Rec Areas (i.e. the amount of proportionate trail they can access, the amount of infrastructure the DNR invests in to support them, etc.)
5. Start playing hardball. We have the numbers. They play hardball and, as Charlie Sheen would say, they are "winning". Collectively, we still don't get it. We think that the key to the DNR's heart is to ask them nicely and they will accomodate us. On the whole, the equestrian advocates have a very testing relationship with the DNR, esp. since the Right-to-Ride legislation passed and -- guess what -- they are "winning". They just played the Unit Manager of Waterloo like a fiddle and guess who look like the "bad guys" -- a bunch of mountain bikers meddling in an event where we don't even have a permanent riding stake in the trail. We care about the trail impact, the equestrians don't, they get what they want, and we get rolled.

Time to step back and ponder some things other than training times and carbon fiber upgrades for the rigs, people!

[centralRH]

Why is this not on our front page? or an email blast to the membership?

Do we not as the MMBA have a stance on this issue?

[bender13]

I am willing to start sending emails. Can someone give me a cheat sheet on which people on the previous list are the most important to contact. All? I don't want to step on the advocacy teams toes.


Edit:
This is what I got off the link:
Rodney Stokes, MDNR Director, STOKESR@Michigan.gov, (517) 373-0023

Ron Olson, MDNR Parks and Rec Chief, OLSONR@Michigan.gov, (517) 335-4827

Paul Curtis, MDNR Planning, CURTISP@Michigan.gov, (517) 335-4827

Gary Jones, Unit Manager, MDNR Waterloo Rec Area, JONESG@Michigan.gov, 734-475-8307

Mark Ouimet, 52nd District Rep, State of Michigan, MarkOuimet@house.mi.gov (517) 373-0828

Anyone have a sample with some of our talking points to help get people started?


Thanks,

Jeff

[jajones]

My link in my intial posts provides for some good talking points, I think.

[Scotty]

Equestrians are taking pot shots at other trail groups and at one established trail after another. They were emboldened by their "big win" in Lansing not long ago. They just took part of The Fort.

What will be next? The Poto? Yankee? They already poach parts of the NCT and game areas like Egypt Valley, with no consequences.. Zero! They do what they want and the DNR doesn't do $#!%.

This is like watching a slow motion train wreak. I guess I don't blame the horse lovers. They don't subscribe to the hug-it-out Kumbaya school of advocacy. They see what they want and they take it.

too bad there aren't more cycling advocates like that.

[cmkovick]

I sent my email to the people listed in Bender's post.

[bender13]

Emails have been sent. Please note I received the following from Gary Jones.

I will be out of the office Tuesday - Thursday, April 26-28. If you need assistance during this time, please contact Park Supervisor Greg Byce at 734-475-8307 or byceg@michigan.gov

Might as well add Greg Byce to the list.

Jeff

[barrybs]

I sent my email to the people listed in Bender's post.

Me too !

Barry