After reading the articles in the July 16 edition of the Whitefish Pilot regarding recreational use on Spencer Mountain, I have to come to the following conclusions and observations:

I have nothing against multiple-use on public lands, but the acreage within Spencer Mountain is in danger of being loved to death.

Narrow trails that have been mountain-biked, horseback-ridden and hiked on for several decades have been transformed over the last several years into wide boulevards that are torn up on seemingly every corner from motorized dirt bike use.

And I thought all along that the area was already specified as "non-motorized." One has to wonder why the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will not even post signs stating that the area is currently not available for motorized use.

Mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians have shared these trails for many years without conflicts. But now a commercial enterprise proposes to bring even more trail traffic to existing trails that are already being taxed heavily by all users.

Personally, the thought of riding my mountain bike down my favorite trail after a very large group of horses have recently passed by is not appealing.

I know the previous article touched on it briefly, but who is going to be responsible for trail maintenance? Is this commercial enterprise going to put in their own trails or just beat to death the already well-used trails that have been in place for years?

Just to be clear on this topic, I have absolutely nothing against horseback trail riding, just the commercial aspect of a large numbers of users on an already crowded area needs to be addressed. If someone wanted to run a large number of mountain bikers as a commercial operation, I would have the same opinion.

As a mountain biker, I will also say that our sport is as guilty as anyone for deteriorating trail conditions at Spencer Mountain. Some of the newer trails that have been constructed are built too steeply and are leading to erosion.

Perhaps, DNRC would be willing to at least look at the possibility of setting up an actual trail system, with signage, where mountain bikers, equestrians, hikers and motorized dirt bikes (should they change the non-motorized designation) could each have their own trails or areas of the mountain to recreate on, thus avoiding conflict and overuse.

Unmanaged, the trails will just keep deteriorating and conflicts could arise.

DNRC could have been collecting a recreational fee for years now and managed a trail system that all users could enjoy and benefit from. Now it appears the agency wants to make up for lost ground by avoiding responsibility while taking in as much revenue as possible, a theme with an all too striking regularity to it around Whitefish these days.

If multiple-users want to continue using Spencer Mountain as their getaway and playground, then solutions and proper planning and management are preferable to overuse and an anything goes attitude.

We are in danger of running out of nearby places to play at "The Year Round Recreational Capitol of Montana."

Chuck Haney

Whitefish