With trail access a never-ending battle in Norcal, mountain bikers have been trying to influence the local chapter of the Sierra Club. And this small skirmish shows a deeper rift between the interests of mountain bikers and other environmental advocates. At issue is whether several mountain bikers who are running for seats on the chapter should even be considered — there’s some debate about whether they care about larger environmental issues, or just access to trails. A fair question, and not one specific to Santa Cruz. But as groups like Sierra and others have long had feuds with mountain bikers it’s worth considering the far larger picture: the next environmentalists are far more likely to mountain bike than to hike. They’re going to continue to push for change. Advocacy for the environment, yes, but a voice, too.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 23rd, 2011 at 7:15 am and is filed under Cycling, Uncategorized, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.