🚀 go-pugleaf

Mary <mbordi@netcom.com> wrote:
MA>It should never be necessary for anyone to even want to walk harmlessly
MA>across someone else's land without permission. The State of California and
MA>the various Counties and Regional Park Districts own enough land to
MA>satisfy most anyone who wants to get close to nature. Stay off the private

Unless of course you live in Marin County and you happen to want to
use your mountain bike to "get close to nature."  Here (as in many
areas of our state) state, regional, local, and now national--the
National Park Service--government agencies are blocking bicycle access
to otherwise useful and desireable circular recreational trail routes,
typically without demonstrating that a problem exists which warrants
such a policy, let alone attempting to solve it without such a heavy
handed response.

As a result, the temptation to "close the loop" by cutting across
private land that is not as likely to be patrolled has been
unnecessarily increased, and of course, some bicyclists have given in
to this temptation.  My point is not that they are justified in doing
so, but rather that we all have a stake in seeing that our public open
spaces remain available for our desired uses, even if we wish to do
nothing more than say, "stay off my land, please, there is plenty of
public land for you to use to your satisfaction."  Increasingly,
however, our public land is being managed to satisfy less and less of
the public.  Right or wrong, that places a burden on all concerned.
---
 . SLMR 2.1a . todd.ourston@ggcs.org