Yes...the subject was meant to cause a feeling of angst and fear.  Please see the link below...any/all participation may be needed to help keep some of our best trail areas rideable.  We have recently seen trails in the western US get shut down to riders due to these same issues.

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The comment deadline is December 15th

I went here to send my comments to the USFS...

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Its important to not send "general" emails describing your views. The USFS has a form that they prefer to be filled out for each area potentially affected by this. IMBA has made it easier in the link above.

"IMPORTANT: Your comments should follow the format that the Forest Service has requested on their form. Relevant sections of this form are outlined below for your information. To more easily make comment, copy the areas in bold into your e-mail and add the proposed wilderness areas which apply. A form to submit comments is at end of this post."

This is very important as Pisgah is one of the few remaining areas where we have so much access to high quality riding on USFS managed land. 

Dont sit by and let us lose Pisgah... 

If you all want to submit your own comments, attached is the form you use per USFS. It was pretty convoluted to find this form and yes, the questions are clearly phrased with an agenda, but this is the formal the USFS request comments be submitted. 

I went ahead an added a section header (highlighted in yellow and name for each of the important inventory areas where mountain biking occurs and may be impacted. Note, if you submit this form ensure you save each section individually and submit the form per section. Your comments should be specific to each inventory area (Wilson creek, Harpers creek, Jarrett, south mills, cedar rock, etc) Completed forms may be submitted by email to [email protected] with the subject line: “Wilderness evaluation input,”...individually. 

I am going to work with the THTB board to formulate our response, at which time i will upload it for reference and usage.  

Also, if you want to send anything to anyone, here is the landuace from IMBA: 



Please consider the following comments regarding the evaluation phase of potential wilderness areas:

In response to Criteria 1c: The following proposed areas have a highly developed trail system which receives use by a wide variety of recreational groups: South Mills River, Daniel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Cedar Rock Mountain, Woods Mountain, and Jarrett Creek

In response to Criteria 2a:The following areas have high recreational use and are close to populated areas which generate the high use of these areas of the forest: South Mills River, Daniel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Cedar Rock Mountain, Woods Mountain, Jarrett Creek

In response to criteria 2b: The following areas contain mountain bike trails: Craggy, South Mills River, Daniel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Cedar Rock Mountain, Harper Crk Ext/Sugar Knob, Woods Mountain, Jarrett Creek

In response to criteria 5c: Due to the amount of use that the trails in these areas receive it is most efficient to use mechanized equipment to keep them sustainable: Craggy Mountains outside the existing WSA, South Mills River, Daniel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Cedar Rock Mountain, Sam Knob, Graveyard Ridge, Dobson Knob Ext, Woods Mountain, Jarrett Creek, Harper Creek, Steels Creek, Harper Crk Ext/Sugar Knob, Lost Cove, Upper Wilson Creek


Sincerely,
(Insert Name)

Every few years the USFS takes a look around to see if they can convert more lands to Wilderness.  They identify territory, put it in a plan, and release it to the public for comment.  If their is not much push back then the land can be converted to "Wilderness".  

If you Hike or ride Horses this is fine because you still have access to the land.  If you want to ride your bike then you SOL.  How seriously is this enforced...very!  If your riding through the forest and come upon wilderness land, you are not even allowed to pick your bike up and carry it across the" Wilderness " territory.  

The Trails in Western part of the state are the pinnacle of MTBing  on the east coast and are very important to the sport we all love.  Help protect them by making your voice heard.  Follow the links to IMBA's site and help protect a Treasure!  The world is run by those who show up.  Now would be a good time to do just that.  The deadline is Dec 15th

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I hate to sound pedantic, but the deadline is TODAY the 14th.....I don't want a bunch of responses getting thrown out due to bureaucratic bs.

"There are two ways you can submit comments at this time. We strongly urge you to submit comments BEFORE DECEMBER 15, 2015 for consideration."

Thanks for the reminder.  I just sent my comments in today.

This article ran Saturday Citizen-Times 

Groups propose recreation areas on WNC national forests

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The Trailblazers were asked to support this effort this afternoon at the zero hour before the official paperwork was turned in.  Technically we were already in support by being a SORBA-IMBA chapter but the Trailblazers officially were added along with TORC(Triangle) and Boone Area Cyclist to the official list.  Long Live Long Rides!

Just saw this. Form submitted. Thank you for bringing this up. Was completely unaware of the proposed wilderness crap affecting pisgah.

As Tom mentioned above, we have been added to a coalition of interested groups including Mountain Bikers, Wilderness proponents, horsemen, etc. The coalition worked together to present a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which was released December 8th.

This proposal recommends creating two new National Recreation Areas (Pisgah and Grandfather) which would allow mountain biking and would protect the majority of the trails up there. The MOU also recommends about 109,000 acres be designated as Wilderness, but those areas do not currently have mountain bike trails.

This site is the best source of information about the coalition and the MOU: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

IMO, bringing together these groups (who often have conflicting agendas) was a great achievement, and this MOU is where we should be focusing our energy. It represents the best path toward saving our trails up there.