UPDATE: Mountain bikers ticketed at Loch Raven
Fellow Sun writer Candy Thomson wrote a story today about how mountain bikers who have been using and maintaining off-road trails at Loch Raven Reservoir for years but are now getting tickets for riding there.
The reservoir grounds have become training grounds for some of the elite riders, Candy writes. And some enthusiasts just like to go out after work with their bikes and some high-powered lights.
But the state has hired six rangers to give out warnings and $100 tickets under a 10-year-old policy requiring riders to stay on fire roads.
The new effort is because bikers are causing erosion and runoff and making water treatment more expensive. That's the facilities' main purpose: water treatment for 1.8 million people. The place was never really meant to be a park, city officials say, and the habitat is getting crushed.
A City Council meeting on the subject is expected early next year. Lawmakers and riders are hoping for a compromise.
So, has anyone gotten a ticket? Anyone ride there? Hike or fish there? What do you think of this environment/money vs. recreation battle?
UPDATE: The city Department of Public Works, which manages the reservoir, put out a release today that says rumors that mountain bikers will be banned from the property are "unfounded." And the only ones who have gotten tickets are three riders who were riding after dark even though the area is only open from sunrise to sunset, and they knew about the rule.
Officials are in the process of marking the 50 miles of trails and educating riders so they stop chopping their way through the areas that act as buffers for the water. They also refer everyone to the plan for mountain bikers, which lays out the rules.
Baltimore Sun file photo/Jerry Jackson
Comments
As many others will no doubt say, this is ridiculous. Indeed clean water is the priority at Loch Raven. However, pointing the finger at the biker misdirects attention from the major culprit responsible for massive erosion: the building of new homes and indeed entire streets that run toward the reservoir. But they pay lots of taxes and are I suppose they are thus exempt. This point is directly skirted in discussions of this matter. The trail ridden by bikers have changed so little in the twenty years I have seen them that there must be more to the story. It feels hard to ignore the fact that bikers are a visible presence and thus a accusations can be laid upon them to convince others of bikers are the source of the problem.
Posted by: Richard W. Dorsey | December 10, 2009 12:18 PM
Mt. bikers have made the trails usable all year round. No one should point fingers at another group. Just look back 15 years ago, winter hiking was not fun, now the trails drain better,and everyone benefits from it
Posted by: pro raven | December 10, 2009 5:36 PM
Why does everything have to have only one cause? The bikers and the building can both be wrong. I don't know if either are, but both can be.
Posted by: Cheap Jim | December 11, 2009 8:51 AM
It's important for bikers to stay on trails designated for their use. Over at Patapsco Valley State Park the trail crew and the volunteers have built and restored many miles of trails suitable for biking, yet some riders persist in riding on un-designated trails that are too steep to be sustainable. The result is erosion.
Posted by: Geezer | December 11, 2009 9:46 AM
Bikers and builders do, of course, both have an influence. But I have never heard of the builders/ building being considered the cause of the major erosion it is, including at a recent meeting with officials when it was broached. I don't have one agenda. There are almost always other user groups responsible as well. But it is the bikers that are periodically dragged to the whipping post. It has me wonder if it is a convenient platform for showing political action or distraction from another issue.
Posted by: Richard Dorsey | December 11, 2009 12:48 PM
savetheraven.com has up to date indormation on the issue at hand. The DPW press release is a one sided opinion that contradicts itself and misleads people. The 50 miles are from three areas, Loch Raven has eleven. Tickets were issued without warning and people in the park on singletrack have had their information taken for further use. That is not information giving, it is information gathering. Studies show that erosion is caused ny every activity in the area, so why doent the DPW want volunteer effort to help maintain this de Facto park. Remembber the streets are closed for recreation on the weekends.
G
Posted by: riddenit20yrs | December 12, 2009 4:27 PM