President Bush Talks With IMBA, CA Bike Show Staff

LOS ANGELES, CA (BRAIN)--On Friday President Bush spoke at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area about his $5 billion National Parks Legacy Project, and several times mentioned the importance of hiking and biking in national parks. Four mountain bike advocates were among the fewer than 30 private citizens invited.

Dozens of press members and national park staff were also present, but the event was small enough that bike advocates had access to President Bush, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Fran Manella, director of the National Park Service.

"We invited Bush on a mountain bike ride," said Peter Heumann, promoter of the Southern California Bicycle Expo and member of the Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association (CORBA). "He said it's something he's never done but would like to try."

Jim Hasenauer, an IMBA board member, told Bush that bikes aren't allowed on the trails of most national parks--something IMBA is fighting to change.

Secretary of the Interior Norton also listened to what Hasenauer and Heumann had to say about mountain biking in national parks.

Nonetheless, the fact that mountain bike advocates were present at all is significant.

"We were the redheaded stepchild with access issues 15 years ago. But now we're invited to events like this," Heumann said.

Also present were Terry and Holly Harmon of CORBA Youth Adventures Program, which leads mountain bike rides for inner city kids. The Harmons also are members of the Mountain Bike Unit, a volunteer patrol that rides in the Santa Monica mountains.

In his speech, President Bush promised $5 billion over five years for national parks projects. He referred to national parks as "the crown jewel of America's recreation system" and encouraged people to take advantage of the resource and volunteer to maintain it.

The approximate $5 billion figure includes $1.8 billion already spent over the last two years, plus $1.1 billion a year for the next three years. Some 1,800 projects could theoretically be completed with the $5 billion, provided Congress approves the $1.1 billion each year.

People protesting Bush's policies lined the route into the recreation area, where multiple layers of security checks and armed personnel defended the president.

"It was an honor to meet him," Heumann said. "And the credibility the meeting gave mountain bike advocates is wonderful. I think IMBA can leverage this, and it means nothing but good things for us locally."

Heumann and Hasenauer are founding members of CORBA, which has been active in the area since 1987. Heumann credited their long-standing relationships with local land managers and other trail user groups for their invitations to the event, as well as the rare access mountain bikers have to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.