Originally posted by Maelstrom
Ahh Canada and its cooperations with environmentalists. 
Very true...it's a great model...
Anyone visiting california, especially the Bay Area will be very surprised by the amount of trail conflict going on. We are prohibited from some of the best trails in the area. In marin county, which is supposed to be the birth place of modern mt. biking, has very little legal singletrack. I have friends who are in the political aspect of this issue and they tell me that the bans have nothing to do with damage to the trails, it's just political. Those in power are usually older and have a bad image of mt. bikers plus they receive quite a bit of money from the Sierra Club.
I'll give you an example of some of the B.S. going on here. In the East Bay bikes are banned from single tracks because of the damage the cause. But get this, on these same lands they allow cow grazing to occur. So bikes cause more damage than cows? You should see how these herds destroy the trails, create wide paths and trample over everything in site...I won't even go into all the crap they leave behind.
I know a lot of people are against riding on illegal trails but here in the Bay Area riders have been pushed over the edge...it's gotten to the point where even advocates say screw it...if you get caught pay the fine. Before anyone says this will just get trails closed, it's too late, they already are closed.