Timberline Bike Park

J Bravard

2016-10-22

OBRA-land:. Please comment in support of this! It doesn't matter whether
you race enduro or DH - a bike park at Timberline would be a benefit for
cycling in our region. Not just mountain bikers, but the businesses
supporting cycling and others would benefit from a quality bike park.

Comment due by the end of the month. Get er done!

Cheers -
John

On Oct 16, 2016 9:53 AM, "Eric Aldinger via OBRA"
wrote:

Steve Kruse is the GM of Timberline. I am forwarding this as some of you
race DH and enduro.

As most of you are aware, the Timberline Bike Park proposal was approved in
2012 following 2 years of environmental studies, resulting in a
comprehensive Environmental Assessment (EA) of the proposal. The Forest
Service issued a Decision and Finding of No significant Impact based on the
analysis in the EA. This approval was subsequently appealed by a
consortium of groups, led by the Friends of Mt. Hood. Upon review by the
Region VI Regional Forester, the decision was upheld and the appeal was
denied.

Just prior to the start of construction, the CRAG Law Firm, representing
Friends of Mt. Hood, the Sierra Club, BARK and the NW Environmental Defense
Center, filed suit against the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and requested an
injunction to halt any activity in regards to the proposed Bike Park.
Timberline requested and was granted the right to be joined as a
co-defendant intervenor with the Forest Service. A federal judge issued an
interim injunction pending the court issuing a ruling regarding the merits
of the issues in the case. This injunction applied to any trail building,
but allowed most of the restoration work to proceed. The restoration work
was substantially completed in the Fall of 2015. Subsequent to the initial
stages of the law suit, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) was
also named in an amended complaint.

In the Spring of this year, the federal judge ruled in favor of the Forest
Service, NMFS and Timberline on most of the issues in the lawsuit, and
deferred ruling on the few remaining issues pending Forest Service and NMFS
completion of updated reviews of additional information in the form of an
additional NFMS Biological Opinion, and the results of further Western
Bumblebee surveys.

Yesterday, the Forest Service issued their review of the additional
information on their website, their reasoning behind why they feel that the
new information is consistent with prior work, concluding that no
supplemental EA or other additional NEPA is required, and provided for
another public comment period regarding their review and conclusions,
ending October 31st. The intent of the comment period is to receive input
from the public as to whether or not to prepare a supplemental EA or
otherwise reopen the EA process, which would further delay implementation
of the Bike Park project.

It is our firm belief that the environmental analysis and other processes
that were followed regarding the Bike Park have been professional,
exhaustive, and more than adequate. We would appreciate any brief comments
that you may want to provide to the Forest Service that agree with the
conclusion that no further NEPA process is warranted, and supporting
construction of the bike trails and other implementation of the project
without further delay. Any comments should be sent prior to October 31st
to the email address in the links below:

Project Overview:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=32278

Public Comment Request Letter: http://a123.g.akamai.net/7/
123/11558/abc123/forestservic.download.akamai.com/11558/www/
nepa/68144_FSPLT3_3902051.pdf

Thank you for your continued support, and please share with anyone who
supports Mountain Biking on our National Forests

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Eric Aldinger

2016-10-16

Steve Kruse is the GM of Timberline. I am forwarding this as some of you
race DH and enduro.

As most of you are aware, the Timberline Bike Park proposal was approved in
2012 following 2 years of environmental studies, resulting in a
comprehensive Environmental Assessment (EA) of the proposal. The Forest
Service issued a Decision and Finding of No significant Impact based on the
analysis in the EA. This approval was subsequently appealed by a
consortium of groups, led by the Friends of Mt. Hood. Upon review by the
Region VI Regional Forester, the decision was upheld and the appeal was
denied.

Just prior to the start of construction, the CRAG Law Firm, representing
Friends of Mt. Hood, the Sierra Club, BARK and the NW Environmental Defense
Center, filed suit against the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and requested an
injunction to halt any activity in regards to the proposed Bike Park.
Timberline requested and was granted the right to be joined as a
co-defendant intervenor with the Forest Service. A federal judge issued an
interim injunction pending the court issuing a ruling regarding the merits
of the issues in the case. This injunction applied to any trail building,
but allowed most of the restoration work to proceed. The restoration work
was substantially completed in the Fall of 2015. Subsequent to the initial
stages of the law suit, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) was
also named in an amended complaint.

In the Spring of this year, the federal judge ruled in favor of the Forest
Service, NMFS and Timberline on most of the issues in the lawsuit, and
deferred ruling on the few remaining issues pending Forest Service and NMFS
completion of updated reviews of additional information in the form of an
additional NFMS Biological Opinion, and the results of further Western
Bumblebee surveys.

Yesterday, the Forest Service issued their review of the additional
information on their website, their reasoning behind why they feel that the
new information is consistent with prior work, concluding that no
supplemental EA or other additional NEPA is required, and provided for
another public comment period regarding their review and conclusions,
ending October 31st. The intent of the comment period is to receive input
from the public as to whether or not to prepare a supplemental EA or
otherwise reopen the EA process, which would further delay implementation
of the Bike Park project.

It is our firm belief that the environmental analysis and other processes
that were followed regarding the Bike Park have been professional,
exhaustive, and more than adequate. We would appreciate any brief comments
that you may want to provide to the Forest Service that agree with the
conclusion that no further NEPA process is warranted, and supporting
construction of the bike trails and other implementation of the project
without further delay. Any comments should be sent prior to October 31st
to the email address in the links below:

Project Overview:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=32278

Public Comment Request Letter:
http://a123.g.akamai.net/7/123/11558/abc123/forestservic.download.akamai.com/11558/www/nepa/68144_FSPLT3_3902051.pdf

Thank you for your continued support, and please share with anyone who
supports Mountain Biking on our National Forests