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Why We're Speaking Up: Protecting Montana's Trails and Wild Places
- john97139
- Sep 29
- 2 min read
The Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition recently submitted two important comment letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture addressing threats to the outdoor recreation infrastructure and wild landscapes we all depend on. Here's why we felt compelled to speak up.
Fighting to Keep Roadless Areas Wild
Our first letter opposes efforts to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule which protects 45 million acres of pristine National Forest lands from road development. Once roads fragment these landscapes, their wild character is lost forever.
For mountain bikers, roadless areas offer some of the most rewarding backcountry riding experiences—remote singletrack through pristine landscapes where you're more likely to encounter wildlife than other trail users. These undisturbed zones provide the sense of adventure and exploration unique to riding in the Western U.S.
Beyond recreation, roadless areas provide essential services including clean water filtration, wildlife habitat connectivity, and carbon storage. For Montana's rural communities, these undeveloped areas drive sustainable tourism economies while supporting our hunting and fishing traditions. Find our submitted letter here.
Ensuring Recreation Survives Reorganization
Our second letter addresses proposed reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service, specifically the plan to phase out regional offices over the next year. While we support efficiency, we're concerned about the potential impacts on trail maintenance, volunteer partnerships, and recreation management.
The Forest Service manages the world's largest trail system, and its effectiveness depends heavily on regional coordination and volunteer relationships built over decades. For mountain bike organizations like ours, these partnerships are everything—they enable us to maintain existing trails, build new sustainable singletrack, and coordinate with other user groups to ensure trails remain in good condition.
With volunteers contributing over 1.2 million hours annually to trail maintenance, disrupting these partnerships could lead to deteriorating trail conditions and reduced public access. Our trail crews depend on established relationships with district rangers, regional coordinators, and specialized recreation staff who understand the technical requirements of building and maintaining mountain bike trails.
We've asked the Department to extend implementation timelines, preserve recreation coordination positions, and develop formal transition protocols for volunteer programs. Our goal is simple: ensure that reorganization improves service delivery rather than undermining the recreation infrastructure millions of Americans depend on.
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