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[RC] Fw: GWJ National Forest wilderness meetings Sept 11 and 13 - Adamsch


----- Original Message ----- From: "Diane Adams" <dadams@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Adamsch" <adamsch@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: GWJ National Forest wilderness meetings Sept 11 and 13


Faith,

Good to hear from you again. I haven't gotten down your way for some time; got 6 new horses in the past two years, so have been busy riding them up here in the Lee District and in Monongahela NF in WV.

I would appreciate it if you could go to the meeting in Bridgewater as we cannot go--have a 3PM meeting in DC so there is no way to get to Bridgewater in time. It really doesn't matter if you are up to date on issues; and the meeting is a good way to learn a lot in a short amount of time. This is a working meeting, so you will get to talk with FS people and other users.

I am trying to get others to the Bridgewater meeting, but it is short notice as I was not aware of it until a bike touring company alerted me. The way I see it, and the way a lot of us see it is that wilderness areas cost more to administer for the forest service (their numbers, not mine) and benefit a smaller user population. The FS has allowed trails to deteriorate in wilderness areas to the point that they are unusable for horse traffic and that was never the intent of the wilderness act. Do a google search on the Ramsey's Draft Trail and you will see that what used to be a nice walk is now a crawl through. And blaming the storm in the fall of 1985 is nonsense. Yes, the storm washed away the old road bed, but the real reason is the Ramsey's Draft Wilderness area.

<http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/northriver/recreation/wilderness/index.shtml> You will note that there is no horse symbol on the page--to my knowledge horses are not prohibited anywhere in the Ramsey's Draft wilderness area, but on page <http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/northriver/recreation/horses/index.shtml> the reference to map 791 (which means national geographic trails illustrated map 791) the column which should be labeled "suggested use" is mistakenly labeled "permitted use". I bring up the Ramsey's Draft wilderness area simply because it is in the North River District and the meeting in Bridgewater is in the North River District also. You can read a description of the Ramsey's Draft Trail at <http://www.roanoke.com/outdoors/hiking/wb/xp-43063>. The wilderness area has existed since the fall of 1984.

Little things like this are why horse users should always attend these meetings, so if you can go to the Bridgewater meeting, please do and when you sign in make it clear that you are a horseback rider even if there is no place on the sign-in sheet for that information.

Take care,
Diane Adams


At 02:38 PM 9/6/2008 -0500, you wrote:
Diane:

Will you be at this meeting in B'Water? I am thinking about going but not sure I would be a good advocate as I have not kept up with the issues with my work schedule.

Faith

----- Original Message ----- From: "Diane Adams" <dadams@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <No Man's Land BCH list :>
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: GWJ National Forest wilderness meetings Sept 11 and 13


All,

Anyone who can should attend these meetings--the potential areas under consideration for wilderness status are huge. <http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml> Remember, trail maintenance in wilderness areas is much harder as nothing with a gasoline engine or wheel can be used. No chain saws, no trucks, etc. And no mechanized use either. That incudes mountain bikes and even deer trolleys.

No Man's Land BCH is against reserving any more of the GWJ for wilderness designation for just the above reasons.

Map of potential areas is here--
<http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/mtg-updates-2008/map-of-potential-wilderness-areas.pdf>

_______________________

Thank You,
Diane Adams,  President, No Man's Land BCH
Back Country Horsemen in the Virginias
dadams@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.bchva.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bchva/
No Man's Land BCH
152 Richard Lane
Star Tannery, VA 22654


<http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml>http<http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml>://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/meetings.shtml

Thursday Sept 11th in Harrisonburg - Bridgewater area
and Saturday Sept 13th in Lexington



2008 Upcoming Meetings



September Meetings


We have scheduled our two public meetings for September. These meetings will deal with the issues surrounding management of wilderness and roadless areas. The meetings will be held:

Thursday September 11 from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm
Turner Ashby High School
800 North Main Street
Bridgewater, Virginia

And

Saturday, September 13 from Noon until 4:00 pm
Rockbridge High School
143 Greenhouse Road
Lexington, Virginia

The purpose of the meetings will be to further our conversations on what areas should be recommended for wilderness designation and how other roadless areas and potential wilderness areas on the Forest should be managed. The meeting will start with a short presentation on wilderness and roadless areas and then we will have discussion groups about the areas under consideration.



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