Watchung Reservation - Call to Action (10/20, 7pm)

Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I am posting this as a standalone thread as the other ones have been run to the ground pointlessly. Please see note at the end.

When: October 20 at 7pm
Where: Trailside Center, Watchung Reservation.
Why: Meeting for Interested Mountain Bikers Regarding Recommendations from the Watchung Reservation Trails Master Plan

http://ucnj.org/press-releases/publ...-the-watchung-reservation-trails-master-plan/

"The Union County Parks Department is sponsoring a meeting with interested mountain bikers regarding recommendations from the Watchung Reservation Trails Master Plan that would create a separate trail for bikers.

"The meeting will be held Thursday, October 20th at 7 p.m. at the Trailside Nature and Science Center at the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside. There is no sign-up or reservation required. Parks representatives and a consultant will present information on the new trail to the group, and answer questions.

"Please note this meeting is intended for interested bikers only, as the County will hold separate meetings for hiking and equestrian trails later this year."

Note: This is intended as informational and to share information. Any antagonistic posts by or towards hikers will be removed and the poster will be banned until after the meeting.
 
Xler8

Xler8

Well-Known Member
I spoke to friends and relatives and they will be coming to support the cause. Most do not own or ride a bicycle, however they feel out of fairness the land should be shared.

Hopefully local bike shops will help in spreading the word as well.
 
qclabrat

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Can someone post up here, things not to say at the meeting?
some things may be obvious, like we will fix your crappy trails
I think we all have good intentions coming to the meeting, but not all of us are skilled at debate and negotiations without sounding arrogant and self entitled
 
S

Shorepoints

Well-Known Member
qclabrat said:
Can someone post up here, things not to say at the meeting?
some things may be obvious, like we will fix your crappy trails
I think we all have good intentions coming to the meeting, but not all of us are skilled at debate and negotiations without sounding arrogant and self entitled
Click to expand...
Good idea. I think understanding the perspective of the County and the Trail Master Planner (CME Associates) will help us formulate "what to say and what not to say":

1. The County is hearing ongoing complaints from a vocal minority of trail users (hike/horse) who are not happy about the possibility of bikes coming to the Reservation. These people are well-connected to County Parks staff so their voice is heard. The County understands that most of these complaints are not fact/science-based, but simply opinion-based, but it doesn't change the fact that the County HATES to have to deal with complaints, regardless. So the M.O. of the county is to MINIMIZE CONFLICT. As a group, I think the best thing we can do on this issue is to reiterate how much of a positive influence we will be regarding trail maintenance and etiquette. If the County sees we are mature, big in numbers, and willing to work hard alongside the existing "user groups" (horse and hike crew), it will help.

2. Specific to the Master Plan, the consensus among those of us who have studied it is that there simply aren't enough bike-legal trail miles in the proposal, and also there isn't a true beginner friendly loop. Because the bike loop is so small (approximately 6.8 miles), MTB riders may feel "boxed in" and likely to "cheat" and ride on the non-legal trails. Also, the more legal trails we get, the more miles of JORBA/MTB trail maintenance the Park will get. There is a feeling among the County that it is better to have "segregated" trails than multi-use trails. This is a bad precedent to set, as it presumes bikes/hikers are non-compatible, which we know is false. It's OK to concede some of the trails as hike or hike/horse only, but the tone set by the Master Plan should encourage multi-use over segregation. Below is a MTB proposal we have circulated to the County and Trail Planner. The Blue trails are the current proposed MTB legal trails. We would like to make the "green" trails in the image below bike-legal. This will give us more trail miles, a good beginner loop, but still maintain substantial trail networks for hike-only or hike/horse only (all the dotted line trails would be hike/horse only). Keep in mind, in our meetings prior to this, the County Officials' attitude has been, "be happy with this plan, because it gets your foot in the door", so asking for more miles isn't going to be received with open arms. However, if we focus on the fact that the proposed MTB trails have NO BEGINNER TERRAIN this may be our best way of getting more trails than proposed. Also emphasizing the fact that more MTB trails mean more well-maintained trails should also help.
That's it for now, feel free to PM me with questions or comments.

MTB Loop Recs.jpg
 
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Xler8

Xler8

Well-Known Member
qclabrat said:
Can someone post up here, things not to say at the meeting?
some things may be obvious, like we will fix your crappy trails
I think we all have good intentions coming to the meeting, but not all of us are skilled at debate and negotiations without sounding arrogant and self entitled
Click to expand...

Hard to dictate what exactly not to say...

In a general sense some things are obvious; no need to be rude, disrespectful, annoyed, mean, or anything along those lines. There is no need and will not help in any way, shape, or form.

A lot of work has gone into this and there is no reason to derail the progress.

Watchung was banned from bicycles a long time ago and it seems as though no one knows the real reason why. Maybe at that time the people on bikes didn't have a voice, maybe the people with horses had more money, maybe someone didn't like the bikes.... Whatever it may be, it's not fair and it's not right.

There is no reason why 2,000+ acres cannot be shared amongst all that enjoy the outdoors. Everyone in Union County contributes financially to the park systems, however not everyone is allowed to use it in the way that they prefer.

Just be yourself and speak from within. No reason to feel like you're in the spotlight and have to be a professional debater. Merely standing up for what you feel is right...
 
qclabrat

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Xler8 said:
Hard to dictate what exactly not to say...

In a general sense some things are obvious; no need to be rude, disrespectful, annoyed, mean, or anything along those lines. There is no need and will not help in any way, shape, or form.

A lot of work has gone into this and there is no reason to derail the progress.

Watchung was banned from bicycles a long time ago and it seems as though no one knows the real reason why. Maybe at that time the people on bikes didn't have a voice, maybe the people with horses had more money, maybe someone didn't like the bikes.... Whatever it may be, it's not fair and it's not right.

There is no reason why 2,000+ acres cannot be shared amongst all that enjoy the outdoors. Everyone in Union County contributes financially to the park systems, however not everyone is allowed to use it in the way that they prefer.

Just be yourself and speak from within. No reason to feel like you're in the spotlight and have to be a professional debater. Merely standing up for what you feel is right...
Click to expand...
I lived in Fanwood before the ban, but after coming home from college, heard about the ban though not sure when it was. Biked around the park lots when I first moved here from NYC in 82. During my first summer there, my only friends were a Huffy and the park.

We should expect the "other side" to be present, where it could their strategy to create conflict which as mentioned earlier is not what the county wants to mediate. It seems obvious, but important to keep to the positives and not play into a potential shouting match.
 
Xler8

Xler8

Well-Known Member
Nowadays kids only need their electronic devices to have a friend...

And banning kids from riding a bike in the woods doesn't help either. I would much rather take my kid to ride in the woods instead of having them ride in the street. With all the texting and driving going on these days, people in the streets either on bike or on foot are rolling the dice...
 
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