Statement on Recent FPC Actions

PMBA cares very much about what happens in the Wissahickon Valley Park, which arises from and even transcends our desire to ride our mountain bikes there. PMBA has proved its care and commitment to the Park through the hundreds of volunteer hours its members have spent maintaining the trails and controlling erosion damage, among other things. As a steward of the Park and local trail systems, PMBA is fully committed to the continued preservation of the Park's environment and the land we ride on. We are motivated and sustained by our passion to ride.

Yet, we acknowledge the challenges the Wissahickon faces on a daily basis and the impact these challenges may have on surrounding communities. As an advocacy group, PMBA may not always agree with the alterations made to the trail system in the Wissahickon by land managers and we acknowledge that other user groups and political bodies may agree with us, though some may also have their own views about what's best for the Park. We strive to understand our differences while remaining committed to the importance of working together with land managers and other user groups.

In response to recent demolitions of technical trail features (fallen trees transformed from obstructions into effective and meaningful user management tools) and other biker utilized features in the Wissahickon, PMBA raises the following concerns. Many of the removed features performed important passive control roles as well as other purposes, such as user conflict reduction and erosion control, which support all trail users. PMBA will continue to advocate integrating properly designed and approved technical trail features in the Wissahickon, which will be a process and will require a lot of hard work. While PMBA does not support illicit or rogue trail building, we acknowledge that the Daisy Field "Bowl" has been used by bikers for over 20 years and fulfilled a valuable biking need that is as legitimate as any recreational use in the Fairmont Park System. Additionally, bikers took it upon themselves to police the underage parties and clean up the trash left afterwards. We will continue our efforts to build an approved bike park area in the Wissahickon to officially acknowledge and serve this need.

We have and will continue to support the Fairmont Park Commission, the Friends of the Wissahickon and communities at large in the City of Philadelphia, all while advocating mountain biking, sustainable trail usage and stewardship. It is PMBA's goal to reach a common understanding with all trail users in the Wissahickon. This is what we have done and will continue to do.

With that said, we need and count on our members' support. A strong PMBA will serve all the people who ride mountain bikes in the Wiss and beyond. Now, more than ever, consider making contributions (time, expertise and/or money) to PMBA to help us achieve the goals we set forth above.