The CAI demonstrates in Assisi against the law that opened the paths to motorbikes and quads. St. Francis would agree

A few years ago there was talk ofUmbria as and of the “green heart of Italy”. And it is still like this, especially in spring, for those who travel along the hills of Trasimeno and Perugia, the woods of Valnerina and Subasio, the gorges dug into the tuff overlooking the Tiber valley and Orvieto. In a few weeks, the blooms of the Plans of Castelluccio will attract thousands of hikers and curious people to the Umbrian side of the Sibillini Mountains.

For decades, in the San Francesco region, trail enthusiasts have concentrated in a few areas. The Sibillini, obviously, and then the Martani Mountains, Mount Cucco dear to speleologists, Mount Tezio overlooking Perugia and the limestone hills around Terni.

Things have changed in the last few years, e.g the mountains and hills of Umbria are crossed by a dense network of paths of national and local interest. A list that includes the streets of San Benedetto and San Francesco, the Amerino paths in the surroundings of Amelia, the Cammino delle Terre Mutate which touches Norcia and other villages affected by the 2016 earthquakes.

“In Umbria the volunteers of the CAI Sections take care of the maintenance of the 447 routes, for a total of 3,570 kilometres, which make up the Regional Hiking Network” explains with legitimate pride a statement from CAI Regional Groupwhich includes the sections of Città di Castello, Foligno, Gualdo Tadino, Gubbio, Orvieto, Perugia, Spoleto and Terni.

“A free job, carried out for decades, which has allowed us to conserve a heritage of roads in a natural environment. If this work were to be monetized in hourly terms, a figure of several million euros per year would be obtained”, the statement continues. The economic contribution of the paths and trails to the economy of Umbria, as for the other Regions, has never been calculated. There is no doubt, however, that this is an important figure.

For a few months, however, the Umbria Region has dealt a severe blow to trail enthusiasts, it doesn’t matter if they are local or have arrived from the rest of Italy and abroad. From 1 January 2024, an amendment to the regional budget law presented by Manuela Puletti, regional councilor of the League, opened paths and mule tracks to the traffic of motor vehicles such as trial motorbikes, off-road vehicles and quads.

In December, after the approval of the amendment, Puletti explained that “the mountains and hills of Umbria become free to be experienced”and that they must be abolished “unjust sanctions against hunters, mushroom seekers and motocross enthusiasts”.

“The forest and our hills represent a great resource for Umbria, and it is the duty of politics to facilitate important and identifying worlds of Umbrian history such as that of hunters, mushroom hunters and motorcyclists”continued the councilor. “The ‘yes’ policy has once again won over the ‘no’ policy, which in the name of instrumental environmentalism actually creates distance between nature and man”.

The Umbrian sections of the Italian Alpine Club, from the beginning, have opposed the law in a motivated and decisive manner. In February a demonstration was held under the offices of the Region in Perugia, and the general president of the CAI Antonio Montani sent an open letter and a dossier to the president of Umbria Donatella Tesei.

According to the Puletti amendment, the only way to keep motor vehicles away from the paths are prohibition signs. For the CAI, “the 10 thousand euros made available to install them are absolutely not enough”and to safeguard the most beautiful routes “it would take almost half a million euros”.

“We invite the Region to review a rule that compromises, for the benefit of a limited number of people, an asset that belongs to everyone and for everyone”Montani wrote in February. “The presence of motorcycles on the paths discourages the presence of walkers, who today represent the only model of tourism development that is truly sustainable and useful to local populations”.

In April, on the occasion of the exhibition Open Paths of Assisiorganized by the Umbria Region, an event-excursion took place on the paths of Subasio, the mountain of San Francesco. “My presidency of the Umbria Regional Group could not have started better” he has declared Maria Luisa Spantinielected President of CAI Umbria a few days ago.

On Saturday 25 May, Assisi will host the Assembly of CAI Delegates, one of the most important moments in the life of the association. At 7pm, after the end of the meetingthe 1,200 Delegates will participate – with President Montani and many members of Umbria – in a flashmob in Piazza del Comune entitled “Respect! No motorbikes on the paths”, to reiterate his opposition to the Puletti amendment.

The Alpine Club emphasizes once again “the short-sightedness of the Region in believing that a promiscuity of use of the path network by hikers on foot and motor vehicles can lead to significant economic results, beyond the damage caused to the bottom of the paths”.

“In all the territories where this promiscuity has been experienced, a drastic decline in tourist presences of walkers has been found, after an initial surge, also a contraction in visitors with motor vehicles”.

In recent weeks, the Umbrian representatives of Federcaccia, Libera Caccia, Enalcaccia and Italcaccia have expressed “unanimous satisfaction” with the measure approved by the Region, and have announced “that they are ready to demonstrate if the rule is touched”.

We are in the election campaign, and councilor Puletti and president Tesei continue on their way. The risk, for Umbria’s tourism entrepreneurs, is that walkers vote with their feet, heading towards more protected and peaceful paths and paths. The CAI’s testimony is important.