The "New Environmentalists"...
| Posted on November 28, 2013 at 12:55 AM |
Since my last blogpost, there has been a lot of fallout over the North Shore Outlook article, regarding a comment made by a "concerned conservationist":
NSMBA asks DNV for more parking and heated change room,perhaps
A FB comment to this article -
"$500,000 for whaaaat? Methinks the NSMBA has overstayed their welcome inside our public forests for their Freeride on the backs of DNV taxpayers. And they want to take away our peaceable neighbourhood, again, too? If skiers, snowboarders, golfers, soccer players, etc. had the kind of freedom and amenities the NSMBA demands, it would be anarchy! I believe it is high time the NSMBA had dialogue with one or more of our three mountain recreational resorts on the North Shore, and start paying to play, like any other legitimate organized sport -- and stop squeezing DNV and its taxpayers for more expensive freebies, every year. They are not doing the forest any favours, folks. Don't be fooled by their endless trail building PR(opaganda). It is pure ecological vandalism. Mountain biking, NSMBA-style, is non-stop, indiscriminate four season riding ,rain or shine, day and night...and ( almost always) new trailbuilding, not much maintenance and repair... Scoot, NSMBA! Go and find your heated change rooms and pay parking at Grouse, Cypress or Mt. Seymour recreational resorts. It is time this mountain biking sport "grew up", and stopped acting like a spoiled child."
Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) recently published a very disturbing trail building video and an article about their corporate "Team Building" trail day contest on Fromme Mountain, earlier in the month...digging, tree root hacking and pulling, etc...
...on November 17, dozens of MEC staff and supporters met up with the NSMBA to dig, grub and mine for goldon the North Shore. http://blog.mec.ca/2013/11/25/getting-our-hands-dirty-mec-vs-arcteryx-trail-building/
The terse retort coming from one of these "New Environmentalists" about the kind of "care and protection" they give to our forests, via the mountain biking "community", is beyond belief...
"I think I can speak for many people on this subject. You seem to be in your own ignorant bubble, not understanding the big picture. We all are just as passionate about are beautiful forests, and we are just as passionate about keeping them pristine. You make outlandish acquisitions about how "we" are "vandalizing" the forests. When really, are legal work is allowing more people to be exposed to these amazing woods. People protect what they can see and experience, so instead of ranting about conservation we aim to get people more engaged in it. We are all fighting for the same goal. All of the environmental activists that I have talked to applaud are dedication, they seem focus more on other areas of concerns example the BPP expansion on cypress. What I think is you are just annoyed at the bikers that buzz around your back yard. And the few times you do venture up to lower Fromme to take pictures of mushrooms and frogs you just feel you have to smack talk an entire extremely large community that care for the forests and protecting them."
Perhaps this is the actual kind of "support and protection of our precious woodlands"that DNV Mayor Walton was referring to when he stated this in his Deep Cove Crier article?!
Let's look at another video about the "New Enviromentalists'" care and protection of our precious woodlands, again (how to keep it "pristine"...)
Clearly, the older environmentalists really "don't understand the big picture" of New Environmentalism (NSMBA community-style). I guess we will just have to wait and see how the forest overall health and biodiversity holds up to this kind of "care and protection" given to it by the New Environmentalists over the next ten to twenty years...We will get the forests we deserve...
There is always some hope, as some mountain bikers do understand the situation at hand:
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Review District of North Vancouver environmental trail assessment
North Shore News
November 27, 2013
November 27, 2013
Dear Editor:
I attended the Nov. 18 meeting of District of North Vancouver council and would have spoken during the public input if I hadn’t felt intimidated by the majority of the audience. I apologize, but the “no clapping” rule would not have helped me feel more comfortable.
I have been a mountain biker for 20 years and much of the riding I have done has been on Mount Fromme and Seymour. About five years ago I stopped riding on those trails because of the difficulty and safety levels, and because of what I observed as considerable forest floor damage by erosion.
With the possible exception of Mayor Richard Walton — because I know he is a cyclist — have any other council members taken the time to closely investigate or ride the trails on either of these hills?
It is my opinion that the activity of mountain biking adds a serious threat to local hillside biodiversities and ecosystems. District staff even had a workshop last year on this very issue: that disappearing biodiversities are perhaps our single biggest environmental concern.
During Monday night’s regular council meeting it was suggested by Coun. Alan Nixon that the environmental trail assessment review of 2006/7 needs to be revisited and reassessed, and I would urge council to do that before there is any more expansion of mountain biking activity on the trails.
This review/assessment should be done by a completely independent body, with absolutely no association to the North Shore Mountain Bike Association or the district.
John Sharpe
North Vancouver
North Vancouver
- See more at: http://www.nsnews.com/opinion/letters/review-district-of-north-vancouver-environmental-trail-assessment-1.712140
This letter was also posted as the "Letter of the Week" by the North Shore Outlook Newspaper -
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