One of the newest residents of the area moved here with no job, but simply with the desire to live somewhere that offered as much beauty and recreational opportunities as Teton Valley. She ended up with the best of both worlds.
The Board of Directors of Mountain Bike the Tetons announced last week the appointment of Lin Heffner as Executive Director of the group that aims to develop and preserve mountain biking resources in the Teton Valley area.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Lin’s caliber help us lead MBT to the forefront of mountain biking and trail management in the Tetons,” said Search Committee co-chairs Lynne Wolfe and Mike Lien in a press release announcing the move.
Most recently, Heffner worked as an associate program officer in the Gates Foundation’s Global Health division and decided to move to the area before being named Executive Director of MBT.
“I knew I wanted to move to a mountain community and I visited many incredible places, but the Teton region completely won me over,” said Heffner.
Heffner will lead the group in its efforts to maintain “the amazing trails we have and build new ones.” Fundraising is a crucial part of that job, and Heffner is “very excited to be a part of the Tin Cup Challenge for the second time this year. Last year it was our group’s biggest fundraiser.” The Tin Cup Challenge, set for July 19 in Driggs City Park, is put on annually by the Community Foundation of Teton Valley and provides financial support for several Teton Valley nonprofits.
Another important goal for MBT and Heffner in the coming months and years “is to make sure tourists coming through know there are tremendous trails in both Teton County, Idaho and Teton County, Wyoming.”
“We have world-class mountain biking here and a lot of people just don’t know about it,” said Heffner.
In fact, Heffner, who spent three years living in New Delhi, India as a consultant for the Gates Foundation, said the mountain biking here is better than in the Himalayas. “The trails in India are just not built for bikes,” she said. However, she did compare the inclusivity of the growing mountain biking community in India to the inclusivity she has witnessed in Teton Valley so far.
“One benefit of supporting trails in the area is economic development,” said Heffner. For every dollar a community invests in mountain bike trails, $10 in revenue is created, according to the Jackson Hole Trails Project Impact Study conducted by the University of Wyoming and cited by Heffner.
Yet, Heffner acknowledged, “More important than economic benefits are social benefits and health benefits. A healthy community is at the top of our list of goals. A lot of people moved here for the community; I sure did.”
Heffner expressed a desire for the community to be involved in the future of MBT and trails in the area. “It’s very clear the community wants to be involved in the shaping of our future,” she said.
“We really want the whole community to be able to have their voices heard, including motorbike riders, horseback riders, and all trail users. We would really like to get it right the first time, and that includes getting input from everyone,” Heffner continued.
Heffner began mountain biking as a high school student and has enjoyed watching the sport grow since then.
“Then, having a mountain bike was about the ability to ride your bike wherever you wanted, unlike a road bike. It’s been amazing to watch the sport grow.”
Heffner does not want current mountain bikers in the valley to worry about her efforts causing crowded trails.
“The more people that participate in a sport the better it is. We don’t want to crowd the trails by introducing more people to the sport, instead we want to build more trails.”
MBT has several trail workdays scheduled throughout the summer.
This article appeared in the Valley Citizen on June 11, 2014.