You’re planning on attending the Cleveland Metroparks Master Planning Sessions, right? Good. Here’s what you can talk about:
- Allow mountain biking. Studies show it causes the same impact as hiking, which is allowed most places, so why is there less than 2 miles of trail available to mountain bikes? There isn’t a supportable reason why not, so tell them you want it!
- Create substantial mileage for mountain biking. Pittsburgh has have over 100 miles in Allegheny County!
- Deal with the vehicle/road bicycle conflicts and remind the park that it’s a park first. Recreation should rule, not commuter demands. Close the road more often for events such as running races and bike races, multi-sport or other events.
- Make the trails sustainable. Reduce maintenance and make them more interesting at the same time.
- More dirt, less pavement.
- More outdoor experiences, less buildings, parking lots and manicured landscapes.
- Make Cleveland Metroparks the best place for cross-country skiing in Northeast Ohio. Groom trails properly and groom them in many places.
- Allow backpacking and camping in designated areas.
- Allow rock climbing in designated areas.
- Build and enhance your outdoor recreation programming to introduce new people to the outdoors in a FUN way.
- Become a LEADER in fighting the Cleveland “brain drain” by learning and applying what attracts young professionals to a city (outdoor recreation!!)
- Become a LEADER in fighting the obesity epidemic.
- Remind the park that recreation opportunities will positively effect our community.
And if you REALLY want to get fired up, remind yourself what CAMBA has gone through trying to get mountain bike trails in Cleveland Metroparks!
