Benitez

The trail ahead

Land symposium explores where we’ve been, where we’re headed

by Missy Votel

As hard as it may be to imagine, Durango, with its countless miles of singletrack, was not always a mountain bike town.

In fact, 25 years ago when local mountain bike enthusiasts came up with the idea for Durango’s first public land symposium, Horse Gulch, Overend Mountain Park and Twin Buttes were but wild expanses of disjointed social trails, old roads and an occasional impromptu dump.

“With a history of extraction, that’s what they were used for until we started using them with the un-motorized user in mind,” Trails 2000 executive director Mary Monroe-Brown said.

The idea for the first land symposium was hatched by Monroe-Brown’s predecessor, Bill Manning, and Ed Zink, of Iron Horse Bicycle Classic fame.

“Back then, we were just looking at putting bikes on trails,” said Monroe-Brown. “Now, bikes have surpassed other outdoor recreation uses  like horse-back riding and hiking. Ed said, ‘why don’t we do another one? So much has changed in the last 25 years.’ The question is, ‘Where do we go from here?’”

The answer to that should become a lot clearer on Fri., Sept. 11, when Trails 2000 hosts the Durango Land Symposium at Fort Lewis College. The long overdue follow-up to the first symposium, held in 1990, the 2015 version will feature noted speakers, including public land managers, mountain bike historians and Luis Benitez, director of the new Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office.

In June, Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Benitez to head the office, which was created to promote and support the state’s $13.2 billion outdoor recreation industry, as well as the healthy communities and healthy economies it fosters.

Monroe-Brown said although Durango has come a long way since then, there is more to be done with regards to connectivity and healthy living. “So many people right now are focused on getting kids outdoors and exercising,” she said. While she noted Durango and Colorado in general seem to be the exception to the rule, instilling a love of the outdoors at an early age is important. And trails play a big role in that. “We need to continue to make sure kids gets outdoors. When they do, they become connected to the land and become good stewards of the land.”

In the vein, Benitez, who will kick off the morning’s talks, will discuss his new “16 by 16” initiative. The goal is to have 16 new trail connections in the state by 2016. Monroe-Brown said Trails 2000 has submitted two proposals for the initiative.

Other speakers for the day, which runs from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., include:

n Ruth Welch, State Director for the BLM. Welch began her career with the Office of Surface Mining in 1989 and joined the BLM in 1993. She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and English literature from Western State College in Gunnison and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Denver.

n Tim Blumenthal, former president of the International Mountain Bike Association and current president of People for Bikes, the largest U.S. bicycle advocacy group, with more than 1 million individuals. During his 36-year career in bicycling, Blumenthal has served as an editor for VeloNews, Bicycling and Mountain Bike. He has also worked as Olympic mountain bike commentator for ABC and NBC, and was part of the ESPN on-air broadcast team for the 1990 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships held in Durango.

“He’s got a great perspective of where mountain biking came from,” said Monroe-Brown.

In addition to the speakers, there will be guest panels discussions on trails-related topics such as connectivity and trail building and maintenance.

“It’s a great opportunity when state and national leaders come to town,” said Monroe-Brown. “That means so much to our community because biking is so important to us.”

The Durango Lands Symposium is free, but space is limited and pre-registration is required. For more information or to sign up, go to www.trails2000.org/2015/07/land-symposium/.