PSA and CAUTIONARY TALE

We at TORCA have been around for a bit. Some of us for the better part of 10 years. Digging, learning the ins and outside of advocacy, meeting with land managers, fund raising to support our efforts, educating the public on good practices and stewardship etc etc. We're not expert trail builders or even expert advocates. We're not really experts at anything except caring. That said, as the insurance commercial says, "we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two". With that in mind, we'd like to share a true story from many years back. A cautionary tale if you will. About a decade or so ago, some mtbers from out of state moved to Tucson and fell in love with Mt. Lemmon. They longed for more trails like the ones they rode in the PNW and without understanding the implications of their actions, started building a Freeride trail on Mt. Lemmon. The trail had ladders, drops, jumps and steeps and the buzz about this trail called Hemmroid trail or "Hemi", quickly spread. As the word spread, so did its popularity.

Mind you, this was back in 2007(ish) and social media was not what it is today. But YouTube existed and a video started popping up of this new trail. That's when the US Forest Service who knew about the trail could no longer turn a blind eye. As a result, the Forest Service went in with chainsaws and picks and dropped every structure and jump built. In addition, some guys implicated in the video, had disciplinary action taken and were issued large fines for their role in the video. In short, it was not a great day for mtbers as they lost a "one of a kind" trail that today has still not been replicated anywhere in S. AZ.

Fast forward to today and we're feeling a sense of deja vu. Recently, we had an interaction with the LEO on the Mountain. He was the federal LEO and he eluded to trails on Bigelow being in the cross hairs of a possible closure. Yes those trails! While some trails on Bigelow are sanctioned trails ( Bigelow, Kellog, Incinerator Ridge), others are illegal( Secret and 1918). YOU should know this and act accordingly. We're not suggesting you don't ride these trails, just don't be so quick to pull out your phones and chronicle every foot of the trail. We have a meeting scheduled this Friday with the FS to sift through what is fact and speculation and will update you on this topic as information is made available to us.

But there is a lesson to be learned here. ONE, again it's YOUR responsibility to know whether or not the trails you are riding are sanctioned "system" trails or not. TWO, if you are going to ride unsanctioned trails, it's probably a good idea to use discretion when posting pics and videos. THREE one way to accomplish #1 is to get involved with advocacy groups like TORCA to better understand the issues facing mtbers and combat assumptions that lead to issues that could easily be avoided. This is a fight we're likely going to lose and we'll have no one to blame but ourselves. #getinvolved #itsnotthatsimple#killyourphone #killstrava #ignorancekillstrails