Barton Creek Greenbelt was created many years ago to provide Austinites with a multitude of trails to walk, hike and bike around Austin. Since the beginning there have been a few people cutting out rogue trails in the park at the southwest corner of HWY360 and South MOPAC. Right now there are about 65 miles of trails and about 63% of them are not legal or not created by the parks department. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department maintains all of the authorized trails in the Austin parks.
For many years they have tried to protect the unauthorized trails from use by roping off those areas. However some person just comes and cuts the rope and brings a chainsaw or hacksaw to cut new trails without regard to the native habitat they are destroying. It is difficult to catch the rogue trail cutters red-handed, but many people have been seen with saws in hand leaving or entering the trail area. Now I don't want to live in a "1984" type state of constant observation and control, but something needs to be done to protect our wild areas and parks. Our wilderness and inner city green spaces are a huge part of what attracts people to Austin. Therefore we need to protect that like our life depends on it, because in a way it does. Our natural areas and parks bring millions of dollars from tourism each year. It also brings people relocating to Austin because they want to live in a beautiful "green city" not some concrete jungle.
The first residents of the area are being driven out. For example this park area is home to the Golden Cheeked Warbler. There was a study in 2003 that showed the nesting success was 50% lower in areas of biking areas of the trails. Several biologists warn that this type of trail creation and constant use are driving away the very wildlife this park was created to preserve. I know that a part of Austin's new culture exists on two wheels, however we have to remember the wildlife was here first and we need to be responsible stewards of the land. There has to be a happy middle ground between the bikers and the preservationists. We need to find a way to maintain the existing trails an prevent the New Trail Bandits from robbing Austin of the nature we so desperately work to maintain.
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