Off-road cyclists in Houston may like to play in the dirt, but they're not too keen when an outsider plays dirty in their playgrounds.

It's the Harris County Flood Control District's (HCFCD) proposed initiative, Charting Buffalo Bayou, that has everyone's bike chain in a knot. This flood control project covers 32 miles, and the "visionary study" is slated for completion in early 2012.

But it's what the maps from the project currently feature that's got local groups crying wolf.

Residents of neighborhoods surrounding Terry Hershey Park, between Wilcrest and Beltway 8, are squawking about planned detention basins under the existing initiative, as they'll encroach upon and eliminate forested land in the area. Detention basins are ponds that temporarily hold water during rainfall, then drain and remain dry between storm or flooding situations. This series of basins would be about three to four acres per pond, with the intent to capture additional run off created by the development in the area — without changing the flow of the water.

According to the Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA), the implications of HCFCD's plan are much worse, and threaten the Houston-area mountain biker's very existence.

In a grassroots campaign to preserve the recreational nature paths that weave along the Buffalo Bayou, GHORBA has launched an effort to "Save the Anthills." Referring to the colloquial name for the sweet singletrack punctuated by a gnarly dirt bike course on its easternmost end, Terry Hershey Park's unofficial off-road trails are a mountain biker's dream come true — and also caught squarely in the cross hairs of HCFCD's deforestation and detention basin proposal.

"We want to make sure people are critiquing factual information and not reacting to emotional factors, like the trees," HCFCD director of communications Fred Garcia told the Houston Chronicle.

Or the absence of quality outdoor space, right? Sure, no big deal there, either.

After all, the forest in question to be destroyed — the south side of Buffalo Bayou — will lead to the eradication of the beloved Anthills.

"The Charting Buffalo Bayou initiative would result in a complete loss of the trail system as we know it — without a replacement," said GHORBA president Bill Rustam. "There would be no forested trails to ride. We should have the ability to detain water without taking away functional, usable land, habitats for birds and other animals, and spaces frequented by walkers and runners — it's an oasis in a concrete jungle."

Indeed it is. Within the city limits of Houston (or even a little beyond), we're quite short on these urban getaways. It's worth the fight to hang on to the ones we have while they're still around.

"You cannot recreate a forest. It's an asset to the community, and you take that all away if you clear cut it," Rustam said. "Part of what makes this trail unique is that it's in an urban environment, and the Anthills feature contours that you don't find anywhere else in the area."

But Rustam recognizes that nothing, right now, is set in stone. "It isn't a final plan — that's what we keep hearing," said Rustam. "We're asking for a more comprehensive look at the entire bayou system. We don't want to take the path of least resistance."

What would a more thorough examination entail? "We need an opportunity to look at alternatives. We'd like alternatives that don't create new basins, such as having water retained in the Clodine Ditch, which is already deforested," Rustam said.

Deforested, but not urbanized. Add to that roster the Deerwood detention basin on a tract of land abandoned by Dow, and you're beginning to grasp the idea — there are other options to be explored.

"We all recognize there's a flooding issue," said Rustam, who is also a resident of the area. "We would like a bigger picture look to work together to develop a longer term solution — discussing other areas and getting the dam up to snuff."

A public meeting is expected to be held in January to address the future and the implementation of the Charting Buffalo Bayou initiative. Until then? Get to know the Anthills — on foot or by bike — and get familiar with the plans to drastically change them.

Other options if you're so inspired? Take it one (or two) steps further, and show that you care about our city's precious natural entertainment by signing GHORBA's petition to save the Anthills. Join the Facebook page, "Opposition to the Buffalo Bayou Detention Basins." Write to your city councilmembers.

Where there's a will, there's a pathway. Why carve out new nature trails in Houston if we can keep the ones we've got?