I think this was a smart move on your
part. We need a BCH unit here in Santa Cruz County, even though horsemen
haven't been kicked out...yet. We do need, however, a group to work at
restoring aging trails. Some of the trails in our nearby state park are a
disaster stemming from age, natural winter erosion and lack of
maintenance.
We had a state park near us that we had ridden in for
decades. In fact most of the trails used by the hikers were established
by a local horseman. They got a new park manager that kicked us out of
"his" park saying "Just because you have used it in the past doesn't mean you
can use it now." We formed a chapter of Back Country Horseman. We
have regained our useage of the park. Another time the tree huggers
tried to lock us out of 64,000 acres they named a desert reserve. Once
again, our BCH chapter was very vocal and active in retaining our useage
there. We now work cooperatively w/the Desert Reserve people, BLM, and
forrest service, maintaining trails, installing signage, etc., so we can
continue to use these areas. Being affiliated w/a national organization
has given us the clout necessary to make sure we were not pushed out of these
valuable riding areas.
I agree that we all need to stay on the well traveled
marked tails for the reasons you mention. I do carry water in a
tank in my trailer but it would have been nice to let her drink. My
whole point to the email is why do we have to settle for this when the
rafters demand exclusive usage. I had several phone conversations with
Jeff about people's packs of dogs running off leash plus the bow
hunters and the cars and motorcycles trying to run us down while
riding. He told me "It is BLM land and I can't restrict the dogs or
hunters plus the vans that the rafters use are necessary to get
supplies down to the river". Ok, why do they have to speed
and not give right of way to riders? Then why must we be
restricted? Is this not a double standard. I believe there is more
going on behind the scenes. I lived all my life in the bay area and
rode Mt Diablo for over 2 decades and watched the government and
environmentalist eminent domain the cattle ranch's 2000 acres reduced
to 150 when it was willed specifically to continue as a cattle
ranch for future generations of children to see and use. We were
told at the meetings that the cattle and horses were eroding the
ground. So what do they do instead of letting the cattle grazed
down the weeds and brush they bring herbicide spray in and set
small back fires that got away from them and almost burned the
mountain down. That is how I know that there is more to this and we
have to stand firm. Sorry to go on so but it p.... me off again. I am
just tired of the government telling me what I can and can't do. Isn't
anyone else mad to?
--- On Tue, 7/1/08,
Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx <Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
From:
Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx <Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx> Subject: [RC]
Cronin Ranch To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Tuesday, July 1,
2008, 8:41 AM
The issue is more than just water access. I understand that the rafters do not want horses in their picnic area and I respect that and will not go into their picnic area. However, closing the trail that parallels the river is overkill. It is the prettiest part of the trail, has a breeze and is just down right nice. Asking horses not to access the river except in a few places is ok provided they are safe places (the one spot I went to didn't seem all that safe but I was told that I went to the wrong opening at that access site). I don't mind not riding along that portion of the trail during the weekend but during the week there is no one there I will continue to ride along the river. The sign also says that the closure is for riparian restoration which is another red herring. There is nothing wrong with the riparian area that will not come back with time and certainly horses are not causing further problems. I think what bothers me most is that it was just done as to the best of my knowledge without any input from the equestrian community on how best to resolve the problem. I will say though that equestrians will not endear themselves to BLM if they continue to cut trail up an and down the hills. There are some rare plants out there that could be trampled. In addition, these "social trails" or whatever you want to call them cause serious erosion problems. Cutting trail is a bigger problem than some may think and does cause hard feelings with land managers, so if we want to keep our trails we need to think about how our actions are viewed, and yes I think about that when I ignore the signs and go along the river trail, however, I do not go into the picnic areas. The rafters can live with horse poop on the trail imo. It is so hot out there it dries very quickly so flies are not a big problem, at least that I have seen. Thanks, Sheila 916.414.6685
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