Subject: [RC] Closing trails to horses in
largest nat'l forest in US
**Please** read this, regarding closure of a
huge area of nat'l forest land, and wilderness areas, in Colorado.
This was sent from Ottie Otterstein,
Chairman of the Back Country Horsemen of Colorado. It is concerning proposed
closing of an extremely large area of wilderness trails to horse use. PLEASE,
read this, and WRITE to the "Content Analysis Group" - address is below.
I do not know what the cut off time is, but apparently it is a very short
"comment period."
I'm sending this in hopes to get the word out to a
lot of people. I apologize that this is so long, but it is very important. We
are losing access to "our" public lands, slowly ... well, it's not so slowly
any more. Seems to be speeding up.I have a ?sample letter? if anyone is interested, I can e-mail it to
you privately, for your use.
Carla Richardson Colorado
-------Original
Message------- Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 6:02 PM
Subject:
Closing of wilderness areas to horses and stock
Dear fellow trail
riders,
The White River National Forest Travel Management Plan is out.
This plan will close horse stock use in areas of the WRNF. This is the largest
NF in the U.S. and is located in Colorado. Some of the areas it includes is
the Collegiate Peaks, Eagles Nest Wilderness, the Flat Tops, the
Holy Cross, Ptarmigan area, Fryingpan, Maroon Bells, Snowmass. As you can
see, this is a vary large portion of the Colorado Rockies.
One of the areas of
this proposal that I think we all need to be made aware of is the use of
segregated trails. Most districts use a system where foot traffic, and horses
can go on any trail, then you have non-motorized use such as mt. bikes, the
motorized use, etc. The proposed plan changes that system. They are trying to
create areas where hikers will not run into any stock-horses. Some of the
trails are proposed to be closed to horses even though you don't ever see
anyone using them. It is important that horse people get involved. There are
people out there trying to keep horses out of all wilderness areas.
My
concern isn't just about which trails are being closed but about the precedent
this sets for other areas. Most of these areas are in the Wilderness where you
see very few if any other users. I can understand segregating usage in busy
areas such as state parks close to big towns where safety is of concern. The
FS states that, "Within wilderness, travel management conflicts
exist. Some hikers dislike encountering horses or even the evidence of
horse use in wilderness areas." They feel that it is their job to provide a
horse free experience for these hikers. If this proposal passes, the closure
of more wilderness in other areas and states could follow.
The comment
period to the FS for this proposal is very short, so trail riders need to send
letters voicing their opposition to this plan ASAP. If we can voice our
concerns with credible data, it will have more of an impact. If we keep
silent, other interests with louder voices will cause us to lose our right to
ride on state and federal lands. Did you realize that the horse industry is
larger than the tobacco industry? We need to stick together and make a big
commotion. Everyone who is involved with horses needs to join together and
make sure our voices are heard.
Please write the
Content Analysis Group, White River National Forest. Forward thisletter to all of your trail riding friends
and all who are involved in the horse industry.
Write to:
WRNF Travel Management Plan and DEIS c/o Content Analysis
Group PO Box 2000 Bountiful, UT 84011-2000
