The South Island Mountain Bike Society has been selected as the "Citizen Group of the Year" by the International Northwest Parks and Recreation Association (INPRA). The Citizen of the Year award recognizes the citizen or citizen group that has made the greatest contribution to their community in the area of parks and recreation. The award was presented at the INPRA awards banquet at the Coast Bastion Hotel in Nanaimo, British Columbia on September 18th.

CRD Parks Committee Chair Karen Watson was impressed that the INPRA chose to recognize SIMBS as Citizen Group of the Year for their work on behalf of the region's mountain bike community. "SIMBS provides recreational opportunities that could not be provided by CRD Parks alone. CRD Parks commend SIMBS for their initiative and contribution to the success of the designated mountain bike area (Hartland) in Mount Work Regional Park" said Watson.

"The many volunteers involved in the good work that SIMBS has been undertaking for almost ten years should take this award as a big pat on the back, and as recognition that our efforts have affected our community in a positive way," said SIMBS President, Lorien Arnold. "SIMBS volunteers have worked hard to establish a good relationship with CRD Parks and to develop one of the best mountain bike parks anywhere in North America. We are tickled to have our efforts recognized by this honorable award."
SIMBS is a non-profit society established to promote mountain biking that is environmentally sound & socially responsible; to coordinate and train volunteers to build and maintain trails; and to work to get more trails open for biking on southern Vancouver Island.

Through a partnership with CRD Parks, SIMBS is responsible for building new trails and maintaining existing trails in an environmentally sensitive manner in Mount Work Regional Park. In the past three years, volunteers have maintained over 50 existing trails and built a number of new trails. In 2001 there were more than 60,000 visitors to the mountain biking area of the park.
For more information visit www.simbs.com or www.crd.bc.ca/parks.

Or contact:

Lorien Arnold, President, SIMBS, 361-1314

Lloyd Rushton, Administrator, CRD Parks, 478-3344