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[RC] The cost to riders/AERC fee hikes - rides2far@xxxxxxxx>>>As far as AERC wanting to raise fees, They're looking at raising the non-member fee for rides, membership dues, etc. Rationale is that they're putting out so much money for trails grants and research that they >>>need the money. So what are we getting for AERC's money? Do we have enough to buy off the forest service? I have no faith at all in being able to "buy" their friendship. Our club donates most of the profit of it's ride back to our forest, coordinates and carries out *all* trail clearing activities, marks all trails and has donated permanent markers to the system. I don't believe that a grant from AERC would make one bit of difference in whether they kept trails open to horses or not. Having to face someone who is local and has worked with them on a system might be a slightly different story. I feel that we need to act locally. It's almost like the disaster thing in New Orleans. Thoses people are waiting for help from outside because they've come to expect "somebody else" to take care of things. The more we centralize our trail lobby in AERC the less the locals will feel it's something that they're responsible for. As far as research? I'll bet more useful information has been passed around and compared on RC than they'll get out of any of those controlled studies that AERC can afford. I am not in favor of raising dues to provide grants. I don't feel they're the way to go. Yes, I know trails are important and without trails we have no sport. That's why I go to local meetings and try to volunteer on local trails...I'm not waiting for Jerry Fruth & the AERC trails fund to come down here and take care of things for me. It's good to have him as a national watchdog to point out impending battles, but I think he needs to be sending out the local troops, not fighting all the battles. Sometimes you need to be local not to ruffle feathers and to understand how to work with officials instead of colliding head on. By the way, I had someone tell me that I'd just have to learn to give something up to cover new costs. I could eat out less, pack my lunch, etc. Well, guess what. I don't eat out. I pack my lunch every day as does my entire family, the dogs are eating store brand dog food, the truck is 11 years old, the trailer is a 2 horse 1988 steel and I buy my hay in the field and put it up myself (too cheap to hire any help) give my own shots, buy used saddles and have to write a funny article to pay for my entries. I don't have much left to give up and it's getting pretty darned hard to be funny! :-( Angie
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