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trestle Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 2093 | TRs | Pics Location: the Oly Pen |
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trestle
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Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:12 pm
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RumiDude wrote: | The superintendent and some other ONP personnel don't seem to give a damn. They want to hide behind bureaucratic language and regulations rather than properly administer ONP. |
And ironically they are shutting off access to the best evidence of their stewardship and a major purpose for the NPS; the Elwha itself and the Glines Canyon Dam site, an extremely effective tool for educating the masses on the restoration and preservation of healthy ecosystems.
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
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RodF Member
Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 2593 | TRs | Pics Location: Sequim WA |
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RodF
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:19 am
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MyFootHurts wrote: | Its barely an inconvenience if you have an electric mountain bike |
FYI: E-bikes are illegal on the Elwha Valley Access Trail (the Olympic Hot Springs Road washout bypass trail), so cannot legally be used to access the Whiskey Bend or Boulder Creek (Olympic Hot Springs) trailheads. E-bikes are also illegal on the Spruce Railroad Trail section of the Olympic Discovery Trail from the Lyre River along the north shore of Lake Crescent to the top of Fairholm Hill.
The reason is that Olympic and Mt. Rainier National Parks are areas of exclusive Federal jurisdiction. The Washington State Legislature has no legislative jurisdiction within these Parks, and state law allowing e-bikes on paved or multi-use trails does not apply within them.
Under Federal law, “Bicycle means every device propelled solely by human power upon which a person or persons may ride on land, having one, two, or more wheels, except a manual wheelchair.” 36 CFR 1.4. By specifically defining "bicycle" to exclude e-bikes, this provision overrides 36 CFR 4.3(g)(2), which states “Unless specifically addressed by regulations in this chapter, the use of a bicycle within a park area is governed by State law. State law concerning bicycle use that is now or may later be in effect is adopted and made a part of this section.”
The Park Superintendent has, in the annual “Superintendent’s Compendium Of Designations, Closures, Permit Requirements and Other Restrictions Imposed Under Discretionary Authority” prohibited bicycle use on all Park trails. She has, under 36 CFR 4.30, the discretionary authority to to either impose or to rescind this prohibition by simply reclassifying these trails as a multi-purpose bicycle trails and allowing e-bikes, consistent with state law. I wrote her a year ago asking she do so. She did not respond to my request and has not done so.
The penalty for a misdemeanor violation, knowingly or willfully or not, of any Federal regulation within a National Park is a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both, per 36 CFR 1.3(a).
I join you in encouraging others to ignore this regulation, ride e-bikes in the Park, and in the unlikely event they get a citation, appear in Federal district court in Tacoma to challenge it. The adverse publicity may motivate the Superintendent to address this silly situation, as it did when a local school teacher with six international students walked past a "Park Closed" road barricade at Barnes Point a few years ago, and her $125 citation was erased by the court.
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
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