In response to threats to trail access across the state, Montana mountain bikers united to form a group called the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance (MMBA) to represent their interests. The group, formed in November, is now working directly with the Forest Service and other user groups as it revises forest plans.
"There's been a real hard push in the last little while to remove bicyclists from a lot of trails," said one of the group's founders Corey Biggers to the Billings Gazette. "We're trying to have a voice for the whole state." Several areas have been proposed for future Wilderness Study Areas, and because trails in Wilderness Areas are not open to bicycle use, Montana riders would lose access to existing riding trails in any newly designated Wilderness Areas.
