Comment on FR Doc # 2011-12038

I fully support the proposed rule which will create new and better bicycling opportunities in Mammoth Cave National Park. I have read the CTMP and am convinced that all trail users at Mammoth Caves will benefit from this plan. It is environmentally and socially responsible and it will serve as a prototype for other Nnational Parks. Bicycling is a low impact, health promoting, safe activity which we should be encouraging in our parks. Unfortunately NPS is saddled with the burden of promulgating special regulations when considering bicycle use. Special regulations are not required for hiking nor equestrian trails. Thankfully a rule change is being considered which will give park superintendents greater local discretion. I hope that happens soon, but I am especially grateful to NPS and the Mammoth Caves staff who took on the burden, the cost, and the time to complete the CTMP and this special regulation process. There is a public health crisis of obesity and nature deficit disorder and the solutions are for children and adults to get outside and move. The First Lady's Let's Move campaign specifically addresses these problems. Mountain bicycling is a significant part of the solution. When NPS first promulgated its mountain bike rule in 1987, I was one of several who offered comments. The rule was overly cautious, even for its time, but now it shackles NPS Parks with a cumbersome and expensive process which they cannot afford to complete. The result is inertia. Meanwhile, in those years, other land managers of all levels, both in the United States and around the world have found ways to manage mountain bicycling on their lands. I hope this Mammoth Cave rule is accepted and I hope the new rule which returns authority to local superintendents is also passed soon. We have public participation protocols and a strong NEPA whenever we consider trail construction and use decisions. We don't need the burden of a Federal Regulation.