Friends of 'Mountain View Park' Wetland
North Vancouver, BC Canada
* * *
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4724603640990.2193484.1471603969&type=1&l=2d40ec0bd2
(to start the "FB slideshow", please click on the bottom right hand corner of the first photo)
Photo: A newly metamorphosed Northern Red-Legged Froglet in Mtn.View Park's frog pond
Mountain View Mushrooms and Fungi
(to start the "FB slideshow", please click on the bottom right hand corner of the first photo)
Mountain View Wetland (through the seasons, 2013)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wetlandpartners/sets/72157639139544113/
Local Boy (and Girl) Scouts Planted Trees in Mountain View Park, April 5,2014. Take care not to step/ride on these saplings. Please stay on the trails. Thank you.
Mountain biking is harmful to the natural environment in nature parks Mountain bikes exert an enormous amount of pressure on the natural environment and contribute to its destruction. Leaving the trails creates ridges, destroys vegetation and leads to erosion and soil compression.
Observe the signs along official pathways to conserve the natural environment and to enhance the pleasure of strollers!
(Excellent statement from the City of Montreal/Ville de Montréal website, 'Parks Regulations')
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On the other side of the fence...
According to mountain bikers, "erosion" is a "positive force" for their sport--
"syncro" states:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?p=2829065#post282906
"...some spots got good due to eroision (sic), but then they go past the good
point to where they have to be replaced or re-routed. intersting side
note, personally i feel erosion can be a positive force in forming a
trail. this is very much a double edged sword though as often these
section are on intermediate trails and as they become more eroded or
challenging then the majority of riders (who have often helped create
the erosion) will now braid that section and look for something easier. i
can think of a few spots on fromme."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The District of North Vancouver refuses to close/decommission the Lower Griffen Switchback Trail, as recommended back in 2008, because mountain bikers like to ride the eroded trail which silts Mountain View Park's frog pond. Erosion is a "positive force" for mountain bikers... and it is detrimental to everything else of value...This what DNV has to say about this black diamond rated trail:
"Thank
you for your E-mail. The Griffin Switch back Trail is largely popular with
walkers and dog walkers. It does have some minor use by younger children
learning to bike. Most bikers now tend to use the Lower Griffin Trail which
encourages riders to exit via the water towers at McNair, away from Mountain
View Park. Within the adaptive management framework, the Lower Griffin
Switchback trail does provide a role in the trail system, especially for hikers.
Due to the existing use of the trail, closure is not justified at this point.
Hikers would continue to use and walk over barriers as it provides a linkage to
the Baden Powell Trail. The existing trail is receiving some minor drainage
improvements for erosion and water control, in order to keep the trail safe for
all users."
(Are you kidding us, DNV.... ??!)
It is clear from the video, below, and this recommendation makes it very clear "minor drainage improvements" is not going to work very well, and trail closure is very highly recommended in order to prevent unnecessary silting of a viable amphibian breeding pond. This makes far more sense than the never-ending appeasement of destructive mountain bikers....
http://www.dnv.org/upload/pcdocsdocuments/lnhq01!.pdf (pg
21)
3.
Switchback Trail / “Lower
Griffen”
• Groundwater seepage issues on switchbacks and
adjacent to ephemeral creek.
•
Low
harmony (switchbacks, crosses flat boggy
area).
RECOMMENDATION:
Close
– active decommissioning...
Mountain bikes exert an enormous amount of pressure on the natural environment and contribute to its destruction. Leaving the trails creates ridges, destroys vegetation and leads to erosion and soil compression.
Observe the signs along official pathways to conserve the natural environment and to enhance the pleasure of strollers!
(Excellent statement from the City of Montreal/Ville de Montréal website, 'Parks Regulations')
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the other side of the fence...
According to mountain bikers, "erosion" is a "positive force" for their sport--
"syncro" states:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?p=2829065#post282906
"...some spots got good due to eroision (sic), but then they go past the good point to where they have to be replaced or re-routed. intersting side note, personally i feel erosion can be a positive force in forming a trail. this is very much a double edged sword though as often these section are on intermediate trails and as they become more eroded or challenging then the majority of riders (who have often helped create the erosion) will now braid that section and look for something easier. i can think of a few spots on fromme."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The District of North Vancouver refuses to close/decommission the Lower Griffen Switchback Trail, as recommended back in 2008, because mountain bikers like to ride the eroded trail which silts Mountain View Park's frog pond. Erosion is a "positive force" for mountain bikers... and it is detrimental to everything else of value...This what DNV has to say about this black diamond rated trail:
"Thank you for your E-mail. The Griffin Switch back Trail is largely popular with walkers and dog walkers. It does have some minor use by younger children learning to bike. Most bikers now tend to use the Lower Griffin Trail which encourages riders to exit via the water towers at McNair, away from Mountain View Park. Within the adaptive management framework, the Lower Griffin Switchback trail does provide a role in the trail system, especially for hikers. Due to the existing use of the trail, closure is not justified at this point. Hikers would continue to use and walk over barriers as it provides a linkage to the Baden Powell Trail. The existing trail is receiving some minor drainage improvements for erosion and water control, in order to keep the trail safe for all users."
(Are you kidding us, DNV.... ??!)
It is clear from the video, below, and this recommendation makes it very clear "minor drainage improvements" is not going to work very well, and trail closure is very highly recommended in order to prevent unnecessary silting of a viable amphibian breeding pond. This makes far more sense than the never-ending appeasement of destructive mountain bikers....
http://www.dnv.org/upload/pcdocsdocuments/lnhq01!.pdf (pg 21)
3. Switchback Trail / “Lower Griffen”
• Groundwater seepage issues on switchbacks and adjacent to ephemeral creek.
• Low harmony (switchbacks, crosses flat boggy area).
RECOMMENDATION:
Close
– active decommissioning...
The science of trails...
The North Shore is a rain forest and we get over 4000mm of rain some years (Seymour River Valley). Here you see how water gains erosive force when following the fall line on Lower Griffen Switchbacks. By the time it gets to the bottom, it's a torrent.
The Fromme Mountain Environmental Assessment Report (2015) by
Diamondhead Consulting provides us with baseline information about the
state of the trails from a scientific and environmental perspective:
http://www.dnv.org/sites/default/files/edocs/fromme-trail-assessment.pdf
Non-stop new trail building and MTB riding activities is clearly taking its toll on and off the trails. "Staying on (authorized) trails" doesn't help alleviate any ecological problems Fromme Mtn faces, while far too many authorized and non-authorized MTB trails continue being built on our fragile mountain slopes (Fromme, Seymour, etc.) Plus, mountain bikers don't listen to the rules and scoff at signage. Borrow pits, compaction, and erosion is taking a clear toll on our forests, four seasons a year, rain or shine...
What can we trust, if the District of North Vancouver land managers don't even consider a trail that turns into a creek during heavy rains as clear enough justification for closing/decommissioning that trail?
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4734981260424.2193716.1471603969&type=1&l=66d09bde37
(to start the "FB slideshows", please click on the bottom right hand corner of the first photo)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202128048670666.1073741827.1471603969&type=1&l=c9b90c2a98
No way to treat a wetland/lowland
Gravel path in Mountain View Park worn down by indiscrimate mountain biking, four seasons a year, rain or shine...
(The gravel path was resurfaced and extended, end of August 2013. Note that grooving, skidding by mountain bikes can already be seen, less than one month later.)
Entrance to the park (above), and inside the park (opposite)
Now, imagine what this will look like within a couple year's time, with rocks starting to jut out again!...Now think about the kind of wear and tear mountain biking inflicts on and off-trail inside the forest. Your tax dollars at work appeasing these destructive off-road mountain biking wreckreationalists. (Can I make this point any clearer?)
The North Shore Mountain Bike Association's (NSMBA) trail building activities are doing a lot of ecological damage to the sensitive habitat, here. Instead of just closing these sensitive trails to mountain biking, the NSMBA's "Trails Adoption Program" (TAP) continues to flog these trails -- called "maintenance and repair". Many of the trails are new trails cut under the mtber terminology: reroutes, bypasses, realignments, refittings, etc.
This is just some of the damage mountain bikes have done to a few trails that many hikers do not traverse on. They are mainly used as mountain bike trails around the Mtn View Park environs and elsewhere on Mt. Fromme, Seymour and Cypress on the North Shore. For the purpose of this page, I am only recording the mountain bike damage done in Mtn View Park wetland and upland area.
Mountain View Park can be considered a "microcosm" of what is happening throughout our North Shore via mountain biking activities...
Some areas need to be made off-limits to mountain biking! Mountain View Park wetland and upland is one such place.
Lower Griffen Trail
Note the heavy erosion caused by bike tires, water, etc. Their plan, already implemented, did even more damage to these wetland trails: http://nsmba.ca/documents/2012%20Assessment%20-%20Lower%20Griffen.pdf (They also added unnecessary "stunt" structures to the trail, in order to enhance the "challenge" on the already challenging trail.)
Upper Griffen Trail:
http://nsmba.ca/content/2011-04_upper-griffen-gets-re-route
"The combination of the trail dropping down a steep slope and water flowing down the trail from above have eroded the previous rock-work that used to keep this section solid." (instead of decommissioning the trail altogether, the mtb trailbuilders cut a new trail "reroute", which entails a lot of digging up 'gold dirt' and rocks from the forest floor. This practice is not sustainable, at all. Take a good look at how invasive all this mtb trailwork is. And there are far too many trails being built inside this sensitive habitat for mountain biking, an area that has been assessed to have high ecological values. Even an aquifer has been damaged above the park, in the upland area, from mountain biking and tampering/reroutes on the trail..
Crinkum Crankum MTB Trail/Cedar Trail, higher up (above "Roadside Attraction" in the Mountain View/Upper Lynn catchment area) experienced some devastating debris flow erosion back in 2006, but mountain biking is still allowed in there! And mountain bikers continue to ride it rain or shine...
"This is one of the more moderate trails on Mount Fromme, described by NSMBA as a cross country trail, and follows an old logging skid road built by Julius Fromme's logging company in the 1920's.
While a short section of the trail is used frequently by mountain
bikers, most of the northern section of the trail is really only
suitable for hiking. Further into the trail as
the soft ground is very prone to erosion when wet." (Trailpeak.com)
Creek washout in December 2006
Metro Vancouver is doing a Grouse Mtn. debris flow study, Winter 2013/14
Sign: "DANGER Trail Closed due to extreme weather conditions and Land slides DNV Parks Department"
Immonator and Natural High Trails were once illegal (mainly natural) mountain bike trails that were falling apart, or going back to nature...They never should have been revived and rebuilt with such heavy modifications, turning them into literal amusement park-like trails with rollercoasters, teeter-totters, etc. Who came up with "plans" like these, and who approved of such foolishness like this?
Our forests are not amusement parks, but the mountain bikers have turned the trails into their own personal private playground inside our public forests... Day and night, four seasons a year, rain or shine.... these off-road dirt bikers ride and trail and structure build. Compaction of soil, and more erosion are the results. It is anti-social! (and very anti-nature)
Digging for "gold dirt" (mineral earth) and rocks to pack the mountain bike trails is one of the most anti-environmental activities to come out of mountain biking. This film makes it pretty clear why. Now imagine this going on almost daily, "repairing and maintaining" (or building new) mtn.bike trails inside the public forests.
More devastating photos of gold dirt "mining" by the NSMBA TAP and Shore Corps and other supporters...
(to start the "FB slideshows", please click on the bottom right hand corner of the first photo)
This is the "dirty little secret" the mountain bikers really don't want the general public to know about. "Unrest in the Forest" exposes the "dirt" on anti-social mountain bike trail building. Fact is, mountain biking trails are unsustainable, long-term, inside our steeply-sloped and mainly rain soaked temperate rain forests. Many trails do not seem to last more than six months to a year before needing this invasive work done over and over again, so easily eroded by consumptive mountain biking activities, etc. And many children and youth are led to believe this is an "okay" thing to do inside our public forests and parks. You can judge for yourself...there is indeed "unrest" in the forest, today. (Like most mountain bike videos, this one is best watched with the sound turned off).
How can people begin to respect this area, if they encounter full-face helmeted, full-body armour wearing "dirt bikers" ripping through this wetland park? How can people respect an area where mountain bikers are indiscriminately digging and trail building, without restraint? This is something "Friends of 'Mountain View Park' Wetland" hopes to be able to change. We cannot do it without your support and help. Thank you.