Bicycle racing – incompatible with Wild Warner

Jim Carrier, chair of Wild Warner, read this statement to the Board of Parks Commissioners on Nov. 10, 2010.

The history of Warner Park is marked by the gradual development of what had been a wetland and prairie. In a hundred years we have gone from a park filled with wildlife to one filled with recreation, soccer, baseball, concerts, fireworks, festivals — and parking lots.

In one lifetime, whole species have disappeared  What wildlife remains is now crowded into 30 percent of Warner: The woodlands, one small prairie and the wetland with its marsh island. People cherish this wild side of Warner. Our organization was formed to preserve it.

This summer, we were consulted on a bicycle cyclocross race. It was put here because Parks didn’t want it run through an conservancy park. Organizers showed good faith in altering the course to avoid fragile resources.

That said, I must ask you to deny any further off-road bicycle races through the wild side. They are incompatible with both the spirit and the practice of wildlife and habitat preservation in Warner — and everything we’ve been fighting for.

The two photos I’ve handed you show the dog park meadow in September two years ago, and last month, shot from the same spot. The difference is stark.

Two years ago, the meadow was full of milkweed, prime habitat for monarch butterflies. A whole column of life existed, from bees to mice to soaring hawks.

Today, that meadow is lawn. Essentially a wildlife desert. The department’s policy changed. We’re trying to reverse it. But because it was no longer wildlife habitat at the time, the addition of a bicycle race was deemed inconsequential. But having witnessed the race it is not.

The goal of these riders is to conquer a course through the woods. Their goal and their impact is not the same as someone walking the trails, listening to birds, enjoying a pocket of peace in a busy city.

A bicycle race on Warner’s wild side is another nick, another wound, another day — in fact, dozens of days — of degradation to the natural side, to a side that needs to be left alone as a natural place.

The precedent of a bicycle race on Warner’s wild side is a breach in an unofficial nature preserve in which wildlife struggles with shrinking habitat, reduced food, and fickle security. If we keep nicking away at Warner’s wild side, our fellow creatures will die or leave. Warner will be a poorer place.