On-going efforts to increase singletrack riding opportunities in Forest Park

 Several exciting developments relating to Forest Park that you might want to know about. 

White Paper on Mountain Biking Completed and Submitted

The first is that the Forest Park White Paper on Mountain Biking was recently finalized and submitted to Portland Parks.  I attached a copy of the paper below. This was a drawn out process, and one not without some controversy and differing opinions, but in the end I think it was positive.  Not only due to content, but as a process that helped further develop our relationships with Parks, the Conservancy, Audubon and others.  We often had different opinions, but almost without exception, the discussion was respectful and productive.  These people will be at the table and so we have to have working relationships with them.

Prospective Riding Areas in the Park

The paper identifies some of the issues surrounding cycling in the park and attempts to inform decisions for expanding off-road cycling opportunities. There was general agreement among the group that there is a place for cyclists in the Park and that there are ways to do that in a manner that respects the natural resources and recognizes growing user demands.  In general terms, it was agreed that the most appropriate locations for expanding riding were between FL 1 and Germantown Road, the middle of the Park.  The south part of the park is already crowded due to the access at Thurman gate, and the north part of the Park has a higher ecological value as outlined in the Forest Park Management Plan.  The paper includes some recommendations for possible expansion of trails including FL 1, FL4, (the power line easement that connects to lower Saltzman), FL7, Tolinda Trail and others.

The idea of trail sharing of existing singletrack trails was one of the most sensitive issues.  Most of the committee felt that certain trails, most notably Wildwood, should be off limits to bikes.  Myself and Mark Pickett argued to keep that language out (for a number of reasons). The final version of the paper mentions trail sharing and the fact that there was disagreement among the committee.  It's fair to note that our position was helped by the recent coverage on BikePortland, etc.  Thanks Frank Selker.  Ir remains to be seen how this will actually play out, though we'll make a case to Parks that trail sharing should at least be considered.  More on this below.

More Details at Next NWTA Meeting

Mark Pickett, FP Trail Care rep. and Erik Tonkin Parks Bureau rep. will be talking about our efforts in FP in more detail at the next general meeting, so try and get there. See the calendar for more details.

NWTA's Advocacy Action Items for Forest Park and Beyond

Second, due in large part to Mark Pickett's recent efforts, NWTA signed a Trail Maintenance Agreement with the Parks Bureau and FPC.  It's more than that however, in that it also contains language allowing NWTA to conduct education and outreach in the Park.  This was one of the specific recommendations contained in the White Paper so we're already making progress there.  It helps for our user group to be seen in the Park, and is also a great way to recruit members.  Work parties and outreach events will happen several times over the year.  See the event listing for this coming weekend, June 27th.

Last - I'm hearing from Parks that they are committed to the City Wide study on mountain biking, possibly as early as July.  In preparation for that event, a small group will be meeting with Parks staffer Emily Roth tomorrow night to discuss what we'd like to see come out of that process.  More Trails, I say!  I will report back next week.

In the meantime,

Get out and ride!
Tom Archer
Board President