Let's be reasonable

I've been reading all about the North Fork downhill trails up in Bellingham, Washington getting closed. Apparently this is a pretty big deal to a lot of people, and they keep making it sound like such a big deal that the place is closing:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/north-fork-trails-whatcom-county-closures-2012.html

People keep tossing around phrases like "best trails ever," best riding spot ever," "the premier gravity spot south of the Canadian border," "a big source of revenue for the state of Washington," "the sort of thing that makes Washington a destination for tens of thousands of money-spending people every year," "almost no measurable environmental impact whatsoever," "a terrible mistake on the part of the Department of Natural Resources," "a really, really bad idea," "short-sighted," "not a solution to anything" and other general platitudes. Heck, Team Krunkshox even drove five hours up there to ride them in the pissing rain one more time:






But there's two sides to every coin. Check out what this news article has to say:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/State-removes-illegal-biking-trails-jumps-from-state-land-146035485.html#idc-cover

"Even though the state's taking down the trail network, mountain bikers are still welcome to ride the forest service roads. "


See, the DNR's trying to be reasonable. You can still ride the gravel roads at North Fork, after all. Doesn't that count as meeting you in the middle?