Indiana Hoosier National Forest

["Hickory Ridge Arabians" <hikryrdg@evansville.net>]

This is from the AERC Trails Chairman, Jerry Fruth
It was forwarded to Jerry from Yvette Rollins
Yvette is with the Indiana Trail Riders Association



 Hello All,

 I would like to bring everyone up to date on the lawsuit filed by 
Suzanne  Mittenthal and the Hoosier Hiker's Council (HHC) on 12/11/01.

 Suzanne and the HHC filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service and 
James  Denoncour, Forest Ranger, Hoosier National Forest regarding 
the reroutes in the  Deam Wilderness and the Parking Lot on Grubb 
Ridge Road.

 Suzanne and HHC were opposed to the reroutes and the addition of 1.7 
mile of  trail.  Her appeals to the Forest Service were heard and it 
was found that she  did not have justification for the appeals.  
Deciding not to let it drop at  that point Suzanne & HHC filed suit 
in the United States District Court of  Southern Indiana.  The 
document number is IP01-C-1882-Y/S you can find this  document on the 
http://www.insd.uscourts.gov/ website if you would like to
keep  track of the court document.  In addition to the first filing, 
they filed an  injunction to stop the work on the Grubb Ridge Loop 
trail referred to by the  HHC as the Frog Pond Ridge loop.

 The hearing was supposed to be 2/7/02 but the Court VACATED the
preliminary  injunction hearing.  The court ordered the parties to 
file any proposed  findings of fact and conclusion of law by 2/15/02.

 In all the documentation Suzanne has recommended that the solution 
to the  problem would be to ban horses from the Deam Wilderness.

 The Indiana Trail Rider's, Hoosier Horsemen and Indiana Horse 
Council have  talked to an attorney to represent the horse community 
in the event that we  need to file as an intervener in the case.  The 
ITRA and HHorsemen have set up  legal defense funds and are taking 
donations for the attorney's fees.  If the  attorney for the Forest 
Service decides that we should file separately instead  of them using 
us a witness we will have the funds necessary.  Some people have
 asked what an intervener is,  To enter into a suit as a third party 
for the  protection of an alleged interest.  We will need to prove 
how the actions of  this lawsuit would affect the horse community if 
Suzanne and the HHC were to  win their suit.

 Our Attorney is in direct contact with the attorney for the forest 
service and  will let us know what the next step will be in this 
procedure.  If the monies  collected do not need to be used in this 
instance we will be prepared for the  next lawsuit.

 Thank you to so many for the support you have shown.

 If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 Yvette Rollins, ITRA, HH & IHC



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