Mountain bikers in Miesbach: Is there a risk of a ban on narrow paths?

Mountain bikers in Miesbach: Is there a risk of a ban on narrow paths?

In the Miesbach district, mountain biking faces a serious challenge. A planned regulation stipulates that paths less than 1.5 meters wide will be closed to mountain bikers. According to the German Mountain Bike Initiative (DIMB), there is strong resistance to this plan because the regulation may not be legally tenable. It is reported that the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment considers it to be possibly unconstitutional, which further complicates the situation. The DIMB is therefore considering taking legal action to protect the national park and the interests of mountain bikers. In addition, at the last meeting of the Environmental Committee, the already controversial 1.5 meter rule was retained, which met with little understanding from the mountain bike community.

The planned new designation of the landscape protection areas has already caused protests in the scene. Exceptions for 35 routes that had already been communicated were withdrawn because their legal basis was unsustainable. As part of these discussions, the district office plans to designate new official trails to take into account the interests of different groups. During the first round of interpretation, there were around 860 objections, around 300 of which came from mountain bikers concerned about their leisure options.

The demands of the DIMB

The DIMB is committed to maintaining the nationwide regulation of the Bavarian Nature Conservation Act. They argue that blanket closures could have a negative impact not only on the recovery of task forces, but also on the local economy. This could have a lasting impact on the region's attractiveness for leisure activities and tourists.

Parallel to the discussion in Bavaria, there was recently a specialist seminar in North Rhine-Westphalia, at which the DIMB appeared as a speaker. Various aspects of mountain biking were discussed there, from the legal basis to sustainable projects. Heiko Mittelstädt, a member of the DIMB advisory board, presented the work of the initiative and discussed its efforts to improve conditions for mountain bikers. Such events are important in order to anchor the topic of mountain biking in social discourse and to draw attention to the challenges.

Bureaucracy and its consequences

The discussion about mountain bike regulations is not just a local issue. An author who has been dealing with nature conservation law for years takes a look at the bureaucracy and the changing approval procedures. In her article, she highlights that permit requirements have tightened over the last 15 years, resulting in longer processing times and higher costs. In the Rems-Murr district, over 60 single trails with a width of less than 2 meters were approved, but a lighthouse project failed due to new, bureaucratic requirements.

The author also criticizes the rigid 2-meter rule system in the Baden-Württemberg State Forest Act as the main cause of the problems in approval practice. This situation is not just limited to Bavaria, but runs like a common thread through the mountain bike scene in Germany.

In summary, the mountain biking community faces major challenges, both from current legislation and bureaucratic hurdles. The DIMB and its supporters are vehemently committed to the interests of their members and a fair treatment of nature.