A proposed mountain bike stage race to be held in the Tally Lake Ranger District is being met with opposition from a local environmental group.
Keith Hammer, chairman of the Swan View Coalition, submitted a four-page comment to the Forest Service contending the bike race will promote conflicts and collisions between cyclists and wildlife. . .
"Trail runners and bikers alike have been swatted, butted, mauled and killed during surprise encounters with bears, lions, wildebeests, and other wildlife," Hammer said in his comments to the Forest Service. "While folks can get hurt hiking, wildlife and land management officials have become fully aware of and advise against the added risk of increased trail speeds involved in running and biking." . . .
"We urge Flathead National Forest to confine speed sports to the developed Big Mountain area so the negative impacts to fish, wildlife and human safety do not spread across the forest," he wrote.
Read the full Whitefish Pilot article here.
