PUBLIC LANDS -- "As recreation like mountain biking becomes ever more popular on public lands, federal agencies such as the BLM are being prodded to supply more access," says a story by High Country News.

"To meet the needs of communities and quell illegal trail building, the BLM has begun to increase its partnerships with local mountain biking groups across the West.”

The efforts so far are mostly in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas.

"If you can work with the mountain biking community to really provide the type of experience they are seeking, they're not going to want to spend their time and energy doing clandestine trail-building," one official says.