Mountain bike trails planned in Caliente

Plan for mountain bike trails, starting in Caliente and going in the mountains around town and into the northern parts Lincoln County, are progressing.

BLM Ely District Caliente Field Office manager Victoria Barr said the BLM met with the International Mountain Bicycling Association representatives in March. ?They have come up with a preliminary plan of areas they identified to their first study that would be suitable and good for single track development from Caliente up to Pioche.?

She thought the group would attend a future Commissioner meeting with a more detailed presentation.

?Our next phase,? said Barr, will be designing the first actual trails and where they?ll go. ?Our goal is to get collectively about $40,000 to do an agreement with them to design this.? Cost of construction is usually about $1,000 per mile. BLM has committed $15,000, Barr said, and is asking other agencies in the county to help as much as they can as well. ?Hopefully we?ll get to that 40 miles being designed and once we get that plan back, BLM will process the environmental assessment on that, then a proposed action as well as a no-action alternative.?

If BLM gives the go ahead on the 40-miles, she said, ?the portion that would be on public land, I intend to seek grants to hire youths to construct them through the summer with an assistance agreement with one of the local organizations that do that.?

She said there is no liability risk with bikers on public land, but could not answer for the City of Caliente. She also noted Caliente is considering a small trailhead park as the starting point for all trails that would go into the mountains.