MVC head: Conservation cash source determines allowed recreation access

Mountain bikers may have some hurt feelings but their anger could be misdirected.

That’s how Carol Abrahamzon, the executive director of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC), feels.

The MVC is at the center of a conflict related to a volunteer-built bike trail in the bluffs.

The short section of the 15-year-old trail has recently been put off limits to mountain bikers because it was found to be on land that’s in a conservation easement managed by the MVC.

That, however, does not mean it’s entirely off limits, says Abrahamzon.

“You can hunt, fish, hike, bird, snowshoe, cross country ski,” she said. “All kinds of activities.”

Just not mountain biking, as per Wisconsin DNR rules.

Abrahamzon says the types of allowed activities are determined by the types of DNR grants used to preserve the land.

The MVC uses habitat preservation money, Abrahamzon said, and that doesn’t permit mountain biking.

“Those other pots of money, that aren’t for habitat, can’t allow biking and some other recreational activities,” she said.