The Knoxville News Sentinel recently carried a story about the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club‘s (AMBC) efforts to build 5-miles of mountain bike accessible trails at the 275-acre Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville.

All the trails in the southern part of Ijams Nature Center will be non-motorized, multi-use trails, meaning everyone from mountain bikers and hikers to trail runners and ornithological societies will benefit from the trails development.

The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club is a chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) which recently merged with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).

Click here to read the full on line version of the article.

Take Action! Urge your Senate leader to support S. 3663.

UPDATE 8-3-10: Senator Reid has postponed Senate consideration of oil spill legislation, The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act (S.3663), until after August recess. This provides us with a great opportunity over the recess to continue to build strong support among Senate and House Congressional Members for full, dedicated funding of LWCF in energy/oil spill legislation. Keep up the effort to contact your legislative leaders!

LWCF Funding Gains House Approval

Thanks to your great efforts, the House of Representatives has approved the Consolidated Lands, Energy and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act (H.R. 3534), which included full and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, sending the bill to the Senate.

A recent national bipartisan poll shows strong support for the continued use of oil and gas fees for land and water protection and for fully funding the LWCF at $900 million annually. An overwhelming majority of voters — 86 percent — support committing funds from offshore drilling fees to LWCF (up 5 percentage points from June 2009).

The Chattanooga Time Free Press contained two related articles the Enterprise South Nature Park’s trails.

Hamilton County’s newest park, Enterprise South Nature Park, is expected to open to the public on October 11 2010.  In an agreement with the county Chattanooga Chapter of Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA-Chattanooga) had been given special access to the park so their volunteers could start building the trails, with the goal of having 10 miles completed when the park opens.

The SORBA-Chattanooga constructed trails will be open to human powered multi-use trails, opened to hikers, runners and mountain bikers.

The Times Free Press article, Blazing Trails, covers the topic of trail construction at Enterprise South Nature Park.

The related article, Riding The Glass, is a first person preview about riding one of the completed loops at the park.

“We are extremely appreciative of Volkswagen’s contribution,” said Minya James, SORBA-Chattanooga’s trails director. “With the funds they have contributed we will be able to complete of our first phase of trail building at Enterprise South.”

“Thanks to the ongoing support of the Hamilton County Parks Department and Volkswagen’s generous donation, citizens are going to have a brand new, very well designed and easily accessible trail system at their fingertips,” adds James.

Enterprise South Nature Park trails have been designed to accommodate a wide variety of trail users and to offer something for both the new outdoor enthusiast and the well seasoned trail advocate. The new trail network is an important part of SORBA-Chattanooga’s Singletrack Mind Initiative, a plan implemented to help SORBA-Chattanooga open and access 100 miles of single-track trails within 10 miles of the city center.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the National Park Service will waive entrance fees on August 14 and 15 to encourage all Americans to visit our national parks.

“This fee-free weekend provides an opportunity for individuals and families alike to take an affordable vacation or to explore a nearby park they have never visited before,” Salazar said. “I encourage everyone to take advantage of the free admission to visit not only our greatest natural wonders but also our nation’s historic and cultural icons.”

There are 392 national parks located across the country in 49 states, many of which will hold free events on August 14 and 15. A complete list by park or state is available at www.nps.gov.

The entrance fees being waived at the 146 sites usually charge for admission range from $3 to $25. There are 246 other parks that do not have entrance fees so you can plan a free visit year-round. The fee free waiver does not include other fees collected in advance or by contractors—such as fees charged for camping, reservations, tours and use of concessions.

For more information about fee free weekends please visit:  http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

The IMBA/USAC Trail Tune-up Grants have been revamped — in 2010, the awards feature $2,000 in funding and a follow-up visit from one of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews in 2011. The Crews will provide technical assistance for the grant winners’ trail projects.

Projects that create or improve trails used for mountain bike racing will receive the highest consideration, but funding can also be used to improve trails for race training and recreational riding. Applicants must be current members of IMBA, as well as USA Cycling member clubs/race promoters.

The Trail Tune-Up Grants are completely funded by USA Cycling members through an optional checkbox on USA Cycling license applications and renewal forms. The program is administered through a partnership between USA Cycling and IMBA.

The application deadline is August 15, 2010. Grant winners will be announced in September at the Interbike trade show and notified by IMBA and USA Cycling.

Grant applications MUST Include:

* A one-page, typed description of the proposed project that demonstrate how funds will be productively used to preserve and enhance trail access, promote environmental education and inspire conservation in your community.
* A budget outline to show how all funding will be used.
* Club Name (Clubs applying for grants must be current members of IMBA and USA Cycling; applicants must include membership numbers)
* Digital copy of a completed W-9 tax form (grant winners will be required to submit a completed W-9 tax form)
* Contact Name
* Contact Address
* Contact Phone
* Contact Email and Club Website
* Please submit applications via email to ryan@imba.com. Include the following in the subject of your email submission: Trail Tune-Up Grants (Your Club Name or Acronym.)

A candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, Robin Smith, sent a letter to the Chattanoogan.com stating the Federal Administration’s National Recreation Trails Fund should be eliminated.

We must also be able to point to specific cuts in the budget to show our determination to deal with our debt and deficits. From examples as large as eliminating over payments for Medicare that will save billions, [b][u]to eliminating the Federal Highway Administration’s National (FHWA) Recreational Trails Fund[/u][/b] that would save $250 million over five years. We must be willing to say we can’t afford some of these projects in the current environment. There should be no project too large or too small to escape review to determine if it is needed and working. Our government does not need 49 separate job training programs. We can’t afford $820 million in one year for federal transportation funding of landscaping, museums, and other transportation “enhancements.”

- Robin Smith, candidate for the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s Third Congressional District

Source:  Chattanoogan.com – Opinion – July 26, 2010.

The FHWA Recreational Trails Fund is the source for Recreational Trails Program funding.

“The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance program of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Federal transportation funds benefit recreation including hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles.

The RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion of the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks.

The RTP funds are distributed to the States by legislative formula: half of the funds are distributed equally among all States, and half are distributed in proportion to the estimated amount of nonhighway recreational fuel use in each State.

Source: FHWA – Recreational Trails Program website

Many Tennessee Trail Projects have benefited from the Recreational Trails Programs grants, including the  Cumberland Trail State Park, Harrison Bay State Park trails and the new trails at Hamilton County’s Enterprise South Nature Park, just to name a few, which are located within a half hour from the candidates own house in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee.

At the present time it does not appear that the other candidates have taken a position regarding future support of the FHWA Recreational Trail Fund.  If and when their positions are made known they will be posted for your consideration.

This is not being provided as an endorsement of any particular candidate.  It is merely being provided to help educate trail users on a known political position of a candidate seeking seeking public office.

UPDATE (August 5, 2010): The primary election results are in and Chuck Fleischmann beat Robin Smith and several other for the republican nomination. He will now face democrat John Wolfe for the 3rd District Congressional Seat.

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Several mountain bike organizations in the region traveled to Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area to celebrate Nationals Trails Day. On hand were mountain bikers from many Tennessee Mountain Biking Alliance organizations, including Big South Fork Mountain Bike Club, Applachian Mountain Bike Club, Northeast Tennessee Mountain Bike Association and our very own SORBA-Chattanooga. A few hardy Kentucky mountain bikers were in attendance as well.

Most attendees arrived on Friday evening. After setting up camp and a quick ride, the participants walked the group campground and introduced themselves.

Saturday morning started with 33 mountain bikers volunteering to help address various trail maintenance issues throughout the park. The main projects included erosion control on the Grand Gap Loop trail and rerouting a section of the Bandy Loop trail. Following the trail work, volunteers returned to the group campground for lunch and beverages provided by the good folks of the Applachain Mountain Bike Club.
The afternoon saw more mountain biking with a large group riding the Grand Gap Loop trail, which is normally restricted to foot traffic on the weekends. (The park made an exception as a reward for the trail work the mountain bikers completed.) Following the ride, participants found various activities to keep them busy, including swimming in the park pool or making their way down to the Big South River to skip stones and swim. Many took advantage of a low hung rope swing there.

The evening produced live music around the camp fire preformed by fellow mountain bikers. The music and socializing lasted late into the night.

Sunday morning several groups of mountain bikers rode. Ride options included a 32-mile epic ride that finished just as the rain arrived.

The weekend was a huge success and there was much talk about making this an annual event.

The Northeast Tennessee Mountain Bike Association and Bay’s Mountain Park have partnered to bring you the second annual Bike at Bay’s Mountain Bike Festival on Saturday, May 15, 2010, beginning at 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Local bike shops will be on hand offering demo bikes for riders to test ride, who wants to test a mountain bike on pavement anyway, along with giveaways and free basic bike maintenance. There will be organized rides with experienced riders, maintenance clinics, as well as food and fun with fellow mountain bikers…all for FREE!

All attendees will be allowed into the park for FREE the day of the event, visit www.ntmba.org/2010bikeatbays to get your pass for the day.

Bike at Bay’s Schedule of Events
10 a.m. – Opening announcements and acknowledgments
10:30 a.m. – First ride heads out to the Chinquapin Trail. This ride will be for less-experienced riders and should last about an hour.
11:30 a.m. – Second ride heads out to the Chinquapin Trail. This ride will be for intermediate riders.
12 p.m. – Lunch will be served, provided by Texas Roadhouse of Johnson City.
1 p.m. – Basic trailside maintenance clinic will begin.
1:30 p.m. – Basic bike care clinic will begin.
2:30 p.m – 4 p.m. – More riding and fun!

The park asks that riders do not ride bikes in the parking lots or in the wildlife habitat areas. The club and the park ask that you carpool to maximize parking within the park.

Photos courtesy of Bob Slayden

The Montgomery Bell State Park mountain bike trail have been reopened following a recent wildfire at the park.

Approximately 6 acres of park were burned on April the 14 in the wildfire, which was confined mainly to the undergrowth in the portion of the park that contain sections of the Yellow Trail and the Green Trail.

Area mountain bikers, including members of the Middle Chapter of IMBA/SORBA, volunteered to complete trail work so the trial could be reopened.

However, additional work remains.  To prevent the fire from spreading the park cut in fire breaks using a dozer, which displaced approximately 6 to 8 inches of dirt, three feet wide, some of which goes down the hills.  The park is concerned that these breaks will not channel water and cause erosion if not addressed.

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Map of the mountain bike trails noting area affected by the recent wild fies and the trails that presently close.