"TALPA, N.M. - Physiotherapist Spencer Bushnell lives less than a mile from farmer Carlos Arguello in Taos, New Mexico. But they are worlds apart on proposals to lace the foothills they love with up to 71 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails.
The two volunteered this year for a U.S. Forest Service working group to tackle surging trail demand and disappearing public access to hills studded with piñon and juniper trees after a post-pandemic, "Zoom boom" wave of new residents and second-home-owners.
That put the neighbors on the frontline of a culture war raging across the West as multi-generational families, conservationists and sometimes conservatives fight trail systems sought by incomers and recreationist locals. Opponents say the trails will harm water supply and wildlife, raise wildfire risk and stoke gentrification.
Two bike trail projects have been nixed in as many months on public land in Oregon and Colorado. The Taos process has split the mountain resort town of 6,600."
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