Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Here is the "meat" of the answer I received from Loren Poppert,
Supervisory Forester
Medicine Wheel/Paintrock RD <lpoppert@xxxxxxxxx> I've also attached my
original request that prompted this response.  I was truly shocked by the
answer.   Just wanted to share with those of you who support the Big Horn.
I'm thinking that now I will work on doing a very thorough set of GPS
coordinates for the ride and publish a little booklet with these
coordinates, photos, and a detailed trail description with maps.  Wonder
if there is any money out there to support that project???  Thanks for
listening.  I've been pretty down about this.  Cindy 


"All though we understand your challenges associated with remarking this
trail each year, we are not
amenable to marking this system permanently as a  trail/route.  Permanent
marking would encourage use of this trail at other times of the year
outside of the days the endurance ride occurs.  This would add more miles
to a trail system that we can not manage and maintain as it stands
currently.  Permanently marked trails need to have NEPA done on them,
cultural clearance, be inventoried every five years, and have other
requirements that we are not willing to take on....  The bottom line is we
do not support permanent marking of this route."

My original request:

Dear Sirs:

I am a member of the Big Horn 100 mile ride organization and
have,personally, been involved with riding, marking, unmarking and
assisting management of this historic endurance ride trail since 1981. 
The Big Horn
100 began in 1971 and is the second longest running 100 mile endurance
ride in the USA with the Western States 100 (Tevis) being the oldest.
(Tevis will have its 50th anniversary this August.)  As I am sure you are
aware, the biggest headache faced by ride management and our cooperating
land managers and owners is marking this trail.  The Big Horn ride is held
together by a very small group of locals from Greybull, Basin and Cody.
There are about 10 of us that are consistently involved.  For some
comparison, the Tevis has 500 volunteers that work their event, including
the marking and unmarking of their trail.  Vandalism and the remote nature
of our trail, along with the small number of volunteers, has always
plagued our ride.  Elk, deer, cattle, hikers, off road vehicle users, and
even some local residents, all destroy our temporary markings.  For the
last 5 years we have used spray caulk along with our traditional
surveyor's ribbon and flags with great success and very positive rider
comments, but this past year we received numerous complaints from both
USFS employees and BLM staff.  Obviously, we need to come up with a
permanent solution to saving this ride.  Permanent marking of equestrian
trails appears to be a low priority on this side of the Big Horns.  There
is not a backcountry horse group that has "adopted" the area and put
pressure on land managers to do so.  Various Big Horn 100 folks have asked
the USFS and BLM about permanent marking over the years, but the answer is
always that there is no money.

With that in mind, I have applied for a grant from the American Endurance
Ride Conference (AERC), the governing body of USA endurance riding, for
funds to permanently mark the Big Horn.  They have assured me that I can
receive this funding as long as I have the cooperation and permission of
the land agencies.  This is, of course, a multi-year task.  Because
marking the USFS sections is the most difficult due to lack of access by
anything other than horseback or foot in large portions and the need for
knowledge of where the trail goes in many USFS areas (and, there are only
a hand-full of locals with that knowledge and we are all getting older), I
proposed to the AERC that I focus first on marking the USFS sections.
Basically, this section of trail is 50 miles long:  from Hudson Falls
through Cedar Canyon, on the Elkhorn trail to Hunt Mt. Rd., to Antelope
Butte, to Ranger Creek, over the Adelaide trail, through Boulder Basin and
to Jack Creek.  I am sure you have excellent maps of the ride route on
file.  This is likely a several summer project by itself, considering the
small number of volunteers involved.  My goal is to mark the trail using
carsonite posts and tree shrouds with reflective BH 100 logos and
directional arrows as needed.  I have catalogs with these materials, but
the USFS may know of vendors who will give me a better deal.  I would also
hope the USFS would loan ride management a carsonite "post pounder" and
recommend whether or not we should have "anchors" on the posts for
stability.  I would also need to know all of the trail marking protocol
required by the USFS.  Once our USFS sections are marked, I will move onto
the BLM sections.  These are generally easier to mark because they can
be accessed by vehicle or ATV.

So, the ball is in your court.  I will anxiously wait to hear from one or
both of you on USFS cooperation and support.

Cindy Collins
90 Sunset Rim
Cody, WY 82414
307-527-5151
307-587-4273 (WK)
ccollins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Finally, the jest of my answer back to Mr. Poppert:

With all due respect, I am so shocked by your answer, especially the
negative tone, that I am not prepared to answer in detail at this time.  I
would also formally request a written copy of your equestrian use plan and
equestrian regulations for the BH forest and any directives you have on
equestrian use.  This trail has been in use by equestrians for over 30
years and updated permanent marking is unlikely to do any further damage
except to keep riders from getting lost and costing the tax payers money
for rescue operations.  The trail was permanently marked over 30 years
ago, but the old wooden posts and signs have rotted away.   

I am not the ride manager, but have helped to mark the trail for many
years.  As I stated, I have used the spray chalk since 1998 when it was
recommended to me by a USFS employee from a neighboring state (Crockett
Dumas).  The chalk is designed to wear off over several months with no
permanent environmental damage, but is very difficult to vandalize.  I
will pass all of your messages along to ride management.

It truly never occurred to me that the USFS would be anything but
cooperative and pleased with this proposal.  Money to pay for marking was
the only issue ever
mentioned to ride management in the past for why the USFS could not mark
it for us.

I will be in touch again after I have time to further research these
issues and process my thoughts about your response.  Cindy Collins 



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=