I hear that he was caught crying like a baby, on video!

Mike

Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001

Subject: A Respected Liar

Sent to:

Mr. Brian O'Neill

General Superintendent, GGNRA

Fort Mason

San Francisco, CA 94123.

Dear Mr. O'Niell,

The Marin County Open Space District, responding to increasing

problems caused by mountain bicyclists, has recently considered

increasing the level of enforcement of its regulations and stiffening

penalties for their infractions. Strident opposition to this proposal

has been heard from cyclists, and from Mr. Michael More, a director

of the Marin Bicycle Trails Council. Also a four-year member of

the Marin County Open Space and Trails Committee, Mr. More

supposedly had worked in this capacity to resolve these problems.

Admonishing his colleagues on this committee, Mr. More steadfastly

insisted that increased enforcement of regulations was inappropriate,

and that the only effective means of resolving these problems was

through the "education" of what he repeatedly maintained were

only a small number of cyclists who simply didn't know any better.

As you doubtless know, among the three men recently apprehended

by a federal ranger for digging an illegal bicycle trail on GGNRA land

was Mr. More, himself. Shockingly, the duplicity with which he betrayed

his colleagues on the Trails Committee, the deceitful manner in which

he abused the public trust, his contempt for the rule of law, and his

wanton acts of vandalism are currently being lauded by Mr. Carl M.

Birkelbach, a seven-year Board member of the International Mountain

Bicycling Association (IMBA), who has likened Mr. More to Mahatma

Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Mr. Birkelbach is Midwest Regional

Coordinator for IMBA, and president of RIDE (Recreation for Individuals

Dedicated to the Environment). Of important note is one of RIDE's

sponsors, the SRAM Corp. which co-sponsored the mountain biking

video "Superheros" which features illegal mountain biking on Federal,

County, and private land.

There can be little doubt that such egregious behavior, demonstrated

by an individual in a leadership role and praised by mountain bicycling

advocates, serves as a small sample of what we may expect in abundance

in the future if it is not severely dealt with. It is my earnest hope that

you will do all within your power to see to it that this person is vigorously

prosecuted, and punished in a manner commensurate with the magnitude

of his crime. It is my sincere belief that anything short of this will only

serve to reassure everyone armed with a pick, a shovel, and the conviction

that they have a right to vandalize federal property that there will be no

serious consequences to their actions.

Sincerely,

[A Friend]