Does anyone know who 'Free Agent' is before I contact him? There are rules
within the
Parks Dept. for organized events in Public Parks, and the main rule that
concerns bicycle
events in a PDX Park is: "Only Permits allowed for Bicycle Related Events
are for Paved Surfaces.". How do I know this?
In March of 2005, I attempted to add a 'Forest Park Loop' for the Bridge
Pedal, working with
Ric Bauman the guy who owns that event. We even had the support of Fred
Nilsen, the Forest Park Manager at the time,
but the Parks Dept came back with that rule.

Before this ride gets some traction, let's make sure we don't create
enemies with Parks, FP Neighborhood Associations
and the Forest Park Conservancy.

I applaud the idea, but it needs to be done right.

This article will explain how the city views events in the
park..........which is interesting, because they STILL allow
the 'Run For The Wildwood', which violates these rules:
----------------------------------------------------
Forest Park goes with scaled-down approach

Thursday, April 06, 2006
Fred Leeson

When members and friends of the Oregon Road Runners Club scampered the
entire length of Forest Park late last month -- some of them twice -- it
marked the last large-scale event in the sprawling park's north end.

The Bureau of Parks & Recreation has eliminated big events in so-called
North Management Unit, considered the most sensitive habitat for wild
plants and animals. Further, the new policy would prefer that informal
group runs or walks that involve more than 20 participants stay out, too,
between Northwest Germantown and Newberry roads. "Protecting natural
resources and wildlife habitat is of utmost importance in this management
unit," the policy states.

The City Council endorsed the restriction more than a decade ago in a
Forest Park management plan, but it never was implemented.

Jim Sjulin, a Parks Bureau nature zone manager, says the new policy stems
from increased human use in the past decade and lobbying from the Friends
of Forest Park.

"The Friends has been asking us for a couple years to look at our event
policies, and to make the policies consistent with the management plan,"
he says.

The new policy also restricts events to a maximum of 100 people and only
in May through October in the Central unit, between Firelane No. 1 and
Northwest Germantown Road. In the South unit closest to the city, between
West Burnside and Firelane No. 1, it limits participants to 500
year-around.

Gail Snyder, director of the Friends, has seen "an explosion" of racing
and other events since the 1995 plan. "I think it's a positive step," she
says. "It does help protect the north end."

Snyder, who also is an ultramarathoner, notes that the new policy does not
restrict individuals from training or from riding horses in the North
Unit. But she notes that the most remote area should be reserved mostly
for passive use such as hiking and bird watching.

"We're trying to maintain the North Unit as a natural area park, and not
have it perceived as an arena for events," Snyder says. "We have plenty of
other places for events."

Snyder counts at least 20 kinds of group activities that occur in Forest
Park. Some, like geocaching, were unheard of when the City Council adopted
the park management plan. Geocachers use global positioning devices to
search for hidden items. Sjulin says people leaving trails do the worst
damage in sensitive habitats such as the North Unit.

Monika Gold, race director for the final "March Mudness" road run, says
she accepts the rule.

"You want the public to utilize this treasure," she says of Forest Park,
"but at the same time you don't want to trample all the plants. If you
take out a single trillium, it can take years to come back."

Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@...







mforness3000@...
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12/03/2008 03:43 PM
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Subject
[pumpclub] possible massive group ride in FP






see here...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=470789

and then here...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=473762

I think that this potentially could be positive if done right...what do
ya'll think?

~matt




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