A third public meeting about the construction of mountain bike trails in Dockton Forest will be held in mid-January.

The decision for the extra meeting was made last Thursday after a public meeting (the second on the proposal) at which a few islanders felt they needed more information. The January meeting will unveil the final plans for the trails with the public’s recommendations.

David Kimmett and Jenny Aunan from the King County Parks Department led the Thursday night meeting at McMurray Middle School and dispelled rumors about the bike trail proposal that was brought to the county months ago by local mountain bikers.

“There was a lot of misinformation circulating,” Kimmett said last week after the meeting. “They’re just trails, that’s it.”

The proposal calls for two loops of biking trails in 40 acres of the 700 acre Dockton Forest. The loops would be separate from the existing multi-use trails and would have a 50 to 100 foot wide “buffer zone” between them and the existing trails. Kimmett said that the mountain bike trails will be “essentially invisible” and non-intrusive to other forest users.

Aunan went on to explain that “there are no threats to existing trails” and that the project is not in any way a mountain bike park.

“The footprint of the proposed 2-3 feet wide trails will be less than five-mile loops. The proposed trails will take up 6 percent of the 700-acre forest.”

Aunan continued to say that mountain biking “is consistent with the county’s forest stewardship program” and that there is a need for mountain bike trails on the island.

The proposal for the trails was brought to King County’s parks department in October by the Vashon Mountain Bike Association, headed by McMurray teacher Larry Dubois. The project will be built by the association’s members as volunteer work. Materials will be funded through a county community partnership grant. The association is hoping to create trails on Vashon so that bikers no longer have to go off-island to ride. Dubois and supporters also talked about the value to island children and their health.

Stephen Holtz, an islander on the bike trail steering committee, said the trails will “help the community and kids of the community have a good physical release and use woods and forest for their interest.”

Meanwhile, equestrians and wildlife activists pushed back against the plan and were worried about horses being spooked by mountain bikes and habitats being interrupted.

While many equestrians said they have had nothing but positive interactions with bikers, a few were adamant that clear signage and education would need to be in place so that bikers would know to yield to horses.

Dubois, who teaches mountain biking at McMurray, and the county both got behind the need for education and signs on the trails.

“This is the perfect time for all trail users to come together and get along, but if there (are) conflicts, we are prepared to work it out,” Kimmett said. “It’s going to take everyone working together, getting along and sharing the trails.”

The hope is that once mountain bikers have a place to ride, interactions between them and equestrians or hikers will be minimized.

Vashon-Maury Island Audubon Society Vice President Ezra Parker said he was concerned about the paths’ effects on wildlife. Kimmett referenced photos of trails in the Duthie Hill mountain bike park in Issaquah to show how plants and wildlife adapt to the trails and grow around them, just like hiking trails.

The date of the third meeting has not been scheduled, but islanders wishing to keep informed can text King DocktonTrails to 468311 to get updates.