National Park fever!

The Plain Dealer featured this story on its front page today about the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, with the headline "Avid park users want more, expanded trails: Mountain biking, backpacking among new uses proposed in survey for the Cuyahoga Valley." The story, written by Jim Nichols, notes:

...the No. 1 request across the board is for trails for mountain bikes. And mountain bikers aren't the only ones asking the park service to repeal the ban it has maintained on mountain bikes ever since Congress established the park in 1974, when it was called the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.

Among the most influential is the Cuyahoga Valley Trails Council, a volunteer coalition of trail enthusiasts whose equestrians, hikers, runners and cross-country skiers do the bulk of the national park's trail maintenance and repairs. The council has even proposed three sections of the park for dedicated mountain-bike trails: Terra Vista in Valley View; a land wedge between Interstates 271 and 80 near Boston Mills; and in Bath Township, alongside Summit County's O'Neil Woods Metro Park.

Said Council President Dave Daams of Garfield Heights: "There is a large group of mountain bikers in the community, and I think their request for a trail is legitimate -- not only because of their numbers, but also because mountain bikes don't have any more adverse impact on the land than horses do -- and there are many trail opportunities for horses."

Also supporting that call: local chapter representatives from the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, the Buckeye Trail Association, the Medina County Horsemen's Council and, of course, the Cleveland Area Mountain Biking Association.

Want to know more about the national park in our backyard? Watch WVIZ on Wednesday, October 7, at 8 p.m. to see the documentary "Generations: Cuyahoga Valley National Park." (Thanks, Lady Petch, for the tip!)