Mountain bikers have been banned from paths like this one in Brunet Park, in LaSalle, Ont., to help protect wildlife and habitat. (Sean Henry/CBC)

Mountain bikers in LaSalle, Ont., are angry after the town's council voted Tuesday night to ban the sport in a popular woodlot.

Pathways at the LaSalle Woodlot, an 85-hectare area located in Brunet Park on Normandy Road, will be blocked immediately to prevent cyclists from using them.

The pathways will remain open to activities town officials call "passive in nature," such as walking, bird watching, hiking and picnicking.

At issue is the woodlot's status as an environmentally sensitive area, a designation given to expanses of Essex County that house a number of rare species and provide a diversity of habitat types.

The damage from mountain biking in the LaSalle Woodlot was "continuous," according to Terry Fink, the town's director of culture and recreation.

"The aggressiveness of the sport, and the overuse of that woodlot, is beginning to have some negative impacts on the wildlife," he said.

Mountain bikers who turned up at Tuesday's meeting vowed to protest.

"We're going to organize ourselves as a cycling community," said Dylan Lanspeary, a member of the Rocket Mountain Biking Club, a non-profit group based in southwestern Ontario. "This issue is not going to go away."

"We have a lot more firepower behind us that we could bring forth," club member Peter Goldhawk said.

The cyclists will have a tough time convincing Coun. Ray Renaud, who is also a member of the Essex Region Conservation Authority, to change his mind.

"What we should be doing with our woodlots is being responsible in managing them so they flourish, not let them deteriorate," Renaud said.