Schenectady: ‘Wild’ means no mountain bikes

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

A group of dedicated volunteers has uncovered a long-abandoned trail in the woods at Central Park — but after hours of hard work pulling out garbage and leaves, they learned the area is supposed to be preserved for wildlife.

On Tuesday, city officials quickly put a stop to the plans for a new mountain bike trail in the woods near the corner of Fehr Avenue and Golf Road.

“We shouldn’t be putting trails in there,” said Senior Solid Waste Supervisor William Macejka, who oversees such issues for the city.

An occasional walker probably won’t hurt the land, dedicated as “forever wild,” but a mountain bike could leave ruts, kill fragile plants and discourage wildlife from settling there, he said.

Commissioner of General Services Carl Olsen agreed.

“They’re sanctuaries for wildlife and it’s our responsibility to see it stays that way,” he said. “It’s critically important we maintain that.” But he said gentle use would be fine.

“We want people to access those areas and enjoy them, as long as they aren’t hurting Mother Nature,” he said. “They should leave them as undisturbed as possible.”

Removing garbage is “wonderful,” he said. But biking might not be.

“It would depend on the numbers,” Olsen said. “The frequency. And you don’t want to create situations that would create erosion.”

Mountain bike club founder Heather Rizzi hoped to have races there, as she does on the trails her club maintains elsewhere in the park.

There are no state rules regulating how the city maintains its forever wild areas, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The city could choose to allow mountain bikes or leave it entirely alone, spokesman Rick Georgeson said.

“It’s whatever the city thinks forever wild should be,” he said. “It’s up to the city.”

The state’s forever wild preserves have specific restrictions in the state Constitution, but those rules don’t apply to the city’s forever wild areas, Georgeson said.

The state’s rules allow some mountain biking.

“The Adirondacks and Catskills are considered forever wild and they do have some mountain bike trails in the preserve,” Georgeson said, adding that even some permanent construction is allowed. “We have campgrounds in the forever wild.”

For now, Rizzi has decided to stop working on the trail.

“I think we should stop and give him a call,” she said, referring to Macejka.

She said Parks Director Michael Burke gave her permission to start working on the trail. But Olsen said Burke should have sent the request to Macejka to have it evaluated for possible environmental impacts.

Rizzi said she didn’t understand the problem.

“He [Burke] told me it was OK if I just rake and maintain, not build anything,” she said.

Bikers hauled six bags of garbage out of the woods last Friday, clearing about one mile of trail. Rizzi had set up two additional Fridays to complete the next mile.

“This is a really great place for beginners,” she said, calling it flat and “mellow.”

She had expected the trail to be shared by walkers, joggers and bicyclists. “It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “These trails are barely used. They’re used by the occasional walker but they’re covered with leaves. You can barely see them.”

The club maintains trails near the park’s “A” baseball diamond, which are used for recreation as well as three races a year. Those races draw riders from several neighboring states, partly because there are so few race trails in the region.

The regular traffic there has scared away vagrants, Rizzi said.

When she began working on those trails six years ago, homeless men were camping in the forest. Now, Rizzi estimates 20 people use those trails every day and there’s no more evidence of campers.

But at least one man appears to be living in the forever wild preserve. He tried to cover up the trail as they raked it and picked up garbage, she said.