Bikers back Blue Derby forest reserves

Members of Tasmania’s mountain biking fraternity will come together outside Parliament today to express their support for maintaining the protected status of the Blue Derby forest reserves.

This week in Parliament, Premier and Tourism Minister Will Hodgman will move to undo protection for 356,000 ha of high conservation value forest reserves, including the Blue Derby forests, so they can be logged.

New mountain bike trails established in the reserves and premised on their protected status have helped garner unprecedented interest in north east Tasmania and are engaging riders from all over the state, across the country and around the world. In April, Derby will lost the World Enduro Series.

The Wilderness Society has released a map here ( https://www.wilderness.org.au/sites/default/files/media-release/blue_derby_trails_map.pdf ) showing the majority of the Blue Derby trails are either wholly or partly in reserves proposed to have their protections stripped via a bill expected to be tabled in Parliament this week.
Vica Bayley Tasmanian Campaign Manager The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc.