Death by a Thousand Cuts: A Done Deal... 
| Posted on December 9, 2013 at 3:15 PM |
The following news was not made public, nor can it be found by searching for it on DNV.org. (Was this decision made "behind closed doors" by DNV Mayor and Council?)
"In 2013, Council approved the District to develop a pilot program whereby a Trail Maintenance Service Agreement would, under specific criteria, provide some grant funding to NSMBA. That will be instigated in 2014 as a pilot program."
~Susan Rogers, DNV Acting Parks Manager (via email, December 5, 2013)
This agreement effectively privatizes and commercializes our public forests and parks for an off-road wreckreational group to abuse, and its inclusive use of many trails... (without fair and democratic public input. In fact building of an All Access Mountain Bike Trail/Road, on Fromme Mtn, has already begun for three and four wheeled mountain bike vehicles... dirt bikes and ATV's are sure to follow!) There has never been a "pilot program" between DNV and NSMBA that DNV has ever ended, for any detrimental reason, including what could easily be called a complete pilot program failure in Mountain View Park, several years ago.
The NSMBA can do no wrong in DNV's eyes...
Frog art by Brite Chuang, Age 17.
Although some amphibian species decline rapidly when the forest cover is removed, most species suffer a gradual depletion of populations, and the overall impacts are not realized until the species has disappeared from a significant part of its former geographic range. This gradual depletion of suitable habitat through the accumulation of small-scale habitat loss (i.e. NSMBA mountain bike trail/road building) has been described as “death by a thousand cuts”. Whereby no single development is responsible, the accumulation of many small developments eventually leads to the complete loss of the original habitat for the species. Loss of local populations results in a decrease of genetic diversity, and thus a reduction in the potential for species to adapt to environmental changes such as global warming, pesticide contamination or introduced infectious diseases.
Ephemeral wetlands completely dry up for a portion of each year, and thus are perfect for amphibians since they do not harbor predatory fish. These wetlands tend to contain unique amphibian assemblages, yet often receive little legal protection. Creating legislature to protect ephemeral wetlands is a top priority for amphibian conservation. Sometimes, even that is overlooked, as a new gravel path, accommodating mountain biking, has been built right next to an ephemeral stream's edge, bypassing all BMP's for riparian setbacks, west of Mountain View Park, in the lowland area!
The land use change that occurs after a natural habitat is destroyed may lead to an increased chance of direct predation by domestic animals, and may facilitate the emergence of infectious diseases in amphibians and other wildlife.
Though the conservation of amphibians has traditionally focused on protecting breeding habitats (i.e. ponds & streams), the habitats used by all amphibian life history stages (eggs, tadpoles, juvenile & adult stages) must be protected. Many amphibians utilize both the water bodies and the terrestrial areas several kilometers from the breeding sites. Further, widened trails and other developments often divide an amphibian's required habitats, making breeding migrations from the forest to the wetlands either dangerous or impossible.
In 2010, Bobsled Trail, across the very wide Grouse Service Road (west side) from Mountain View Park wetland and upland area, was designated as a beginner/intermediate trail. Today, (NSMBA/DNV) have told us the "original vision" deemed it to be a beginner/green trail? What are we to believe? Is this considered to be "green building" for mountain bikes? None of it was sustainable after three years, looking at the Bobsled Retrofit/Restoration erosion on the trails, that is for sure. This kind of mountain biking erosion caused on the trails from indiscriminate four season a year riding, rain or shine, day and night, cannot be maintained, nor repaired. The damage is irreversible, and it is mainly NEW Trails being built by mountain bikers -- further fragmenting and degrading wildlife habitat, trees and other vegetation. This is all very wrong-minded and not ecologically sound, at all
This is what NSMBA/DNV "sustainable, green" mountain bike trail/road building looks like:
(2010 Bobsled Trail building pictures) --
First Ever Machine Built Bike Trail Begins on Fromme
Bulldozed Bobsled (2010) -- the NSMBA/DNV trail crew then "narrowed the trail after cutting a huge swath, above, through the forest by using "green, sustainable" building techniques (more like it to come in 2014,but without the narrowing of the trail. Once again it will be cut through previously uncut forest floor.)
We are now getting the public forests and parks the mountain bikers have "taken over, and visioned" for us, via a cozy deal called the DNV/NSMBA Trails Maintenance Service Agreement. The joke is at the expense of those who do not mountain bike on our public forests. And, at the great detriment to the ongoing health and well-being of our forests' ecological biodiversity, in years to come...
This carnage is continuing with nary a whimper from our many North Shore conservation and environmental groups. Some of these groups have even enabled the NSMBA to gain this prize Agreementwith the District of North Vancouver. Go figure? It does not bode well for our forests and wetlands. That is for sure!
This aggressive mountain biking agenda hegemony required a more organized, consistent and sustained pushback, perhaps from a newly created and supported provincial or national organization to umbrella an effort to counter this mountain biking agenda creep... that threatens the peace and quiet of our greens and commons, our wildernesses and other public lands... at huge public costs and environmental impacts. Perhaps, it is too late...
This is the price of hikers/conservationists/environmentalists/equestrians being asleep at the wheel for the last 20 years, while the mountain bikers worked like termites...
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