[RC] Evaluating Trails--Penn State Experimental Forest - Linda B. Merims
Kim said:
>Snake Hill 50 is FULL with a waiting list. Yep, a waiting list.
>Most of this ride is on Penn State Universitys' Experimental
>Forest. They have asked that we limit the number of horses
>this year so that they can evaluate the trails post ride...
*Careful*!!! I recommend that you videotape the tread of
as many of these trails as possible before the ride.
Who is going to be doing the evaluation? What are the
criteria?
I've noticed that some new, younger land managers seem to
have a "leave no trace" standard for permitting access to trails.
As there is simply no way for a horse to "leave no trace,"
they use this as justification for closing trails to horses.
What you'll find is that you'll look at the results and say,
"See how little the trails were affected by the passage of
60 horses?" And they'll say, "Oh my God! Look at all
the damage! We must keep horses out of here in the
future!"
At least if you videotape the trail before and after the event,
there'll be some objective record of the impact.
Linda B. Merims
lbm@xxxxxxxxx
Massachusetts, USA
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