Mountain Bikers Statewide Support California Wilderness and Wild River Proposal
MOUNTAIN BIKERS 4 WILDERNESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2002
CHICO, CA - Mountain Bikers For Wilderness (MB4W), a statewide coalition of mountain bikers, released a letter addressed to Senator Barbara Boxer announcing their support of her recently introduced California Wild Heritage Act of 2002 (S. 2535) - a proposal to protect some of California's most spectacular wild lands and free-flowing rivers.
"I enjoy mountain biking because I can experience nature. But there are some places that should be designated Wilderness to protect them in their natural state." said Don Massie Jr., MB4W Chico Representative. "With Wilderness designation, we can preserve some of our remaining wild places, and I can still enjoy mountain biking on my favorite trails."
California currently has more than 100,000 miles of trails and roads available for mountain biking, and more trails will open in other areas in the future.
"Senator Boxer's Wilderness bill (S 2535) gives mountain bikers access to their favorite trails, and protects important threatened wild places," said John Sterling, Director of Environmental Programs at Patagonia, Inc. "As a company that both makes mountain biking products and employs avid mountain bikers, we fully support S 2535 - it's a balanced and fair proposal."
Wilderness and Wild River advocates have worked to ensure that access to existing mountain bike trails remains open within S. 2535, and as a result of hundreds of compromises more than 300,000 acres of potential wilderness were left out of the proposal.
In addition, local chapters of the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) in San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Placer and Nevada counties support proposals to protect potential Wilderness in their backyard.
MB4W facilitates awareness of Wilderness values while building
a community of recreational enthusiasts who appreciate a balanced approach to
recreation and preservation. For more information on MB4W, or a copy of the
California Wild Heritage Act of 2002 support letter, please visit www.mb4w.org
To learn more about the California Wild Heritage Act of 2002,
visit http://boxer.senate.gov/senate/b_2535.html
and http://www.calwild.org/campaigns/cwhc_act/cwhc_list.php
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
