Save the Trails at Merli

"be ambassadors for the Bike Trails at Merli"
about 35 Mountain Bikers attended the
Merli-Sarnoski Park Steering Committee Public Meeting.
On Thursday, March 30, 2006
The purpose of the meeting was to encourage public input on the
recreational needs and renovations for Merli-Sarnoski Park.
If not famillar with what's going down on Fell Mountain.
Well just say it the Trees - Wild Insane Timbering - for the Love of Money,
Not you the Recreactionalist or Naturalist or even you the Mountain Biker.
There's a Big Voice being heard
from Philadephia to upstate New York and its not over yet
Cause everybody wants Merli
Merli-Sarnoski Park, PA

You can Help right now by Signing the Petition

Fell Mountain Timbering Petition

Trail Conditions

Porcupine Ridge, Twister, Connex, and the twisty end of the Orange are gone.
The begining of the Orange Trail is OK until the lake.
After that, it's not worth Riding anymore.
Squeeze Play, HR280, Handlebar, My Brothers Trail, Fox Rocks, & Blade
are all OK so far
Check back for more Updates. Thanks.........steve

Uproar over timbering shows need to talk

On March 30 a heated debate occurred at the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Center over the recreational uses of Merli-Sarnoski Park. The 840-acre park is in Lackawanna County and has been a popular place for mountain bikers to ride.

The county commissioners decided to log the park to help clear out old trees and raise money for the county. What was supposed to be a meeting about general uses in the park turned into an argument over whether the county should have ever timbered the land.

There were 35 mountain bikers at the meeting who were especially angry that many of their trails had been ruined and that the park is in disarray. For many years mountain bikers from all over the East Coast have utilized this park. It has been a well-known and popular destination for biking and is listed on many mountain biking Web sites. For several years there was a popular race that drew several hundred racers to the park. The mountain bikers felt betrayed that their needs or thoughts were not taken into consideration before such a major action was taken.

The central issue that has come out of this meeting is not whether timbering in Merli-Sarnoski is right or wrong. There are valid arguments on both sides. The central issue is the importance of communication among public officials, special interest groups and residents of Lackawanna County as we develop our recreational identity.

Unfortunately, the meeting was held only because the county was mandated to hold it to comply with terms for a grant for park improvement. Those in charge of the park admitted they didn’t know there was such a large group of mountain bikers who used the park. Perhaps if they had known, they could have invited the biking group to provide input and ideas for saving or redeveloping some of the trails before the logging. The meeting should have been held months earlier when the timbering was being planned. A more open dialogue would have prevented anger and mistrust.

The role of our public officials, after all, is to serve the public, and this implies knowing the public. Our county and municipal leaders, as well as our land management experts ,need to make an effort to know groups that use our parks.

Special interest groups and citizens must inform political and environmental leaders in their communities of their recreational needs. County and municipal meetings usually have a public section where people can express themselves, letters can be written, and forums can be arranged.

We are blessed with an abundance of land in Northeastern, Pennsylvania, and we have opportunities to create natural areas for many different groups. This is a quality of life issue and will become important in attracting people to move to the area, and in tourism development. I applaud the county officials at the meeting for inviting members of the biking community to sit on the recreational committee for the park, and I hope that such partnerships and dialogues will continue.