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RE: [RC] [Guest] No horses allowed in the new Headwaters Forest Reserve - David LeBlancNow that I've had a chance to read more of it, I do find where they are recommending no equestrian use. It does appear that comments at this stage are probably late. I have a couple of observations - first, they seem to think that equestrian use requires trails that are 3-4 feet wide. That seems a little wider than what I'm used to riding on. It would be interesting to question where they get that idea. Next, reading through the comments, it seems there are several factions that would rather not have horses (what is WRONG with these people??? - whatever...) on trails with them. As I said in my first post, we'd probably do well to form alliances with as many environmental groups as possible. We've got more in common with those groups than there are differences. One potential legal challenge would be the definition of minimal facility construction. It appears that either the battle was lost in the legislature, or that the people doing this interpret it differently. It would be smart to read the law, and better yet to get a lawyer to read the authorizing legislation. At the end of the day, the law means what the courts say it does, absent the legislature becoming annoyed and making things unmistakably clear. That would be one avenue to pursue - if the legislature amended the law authorizing the preserve to say we have to have access, they would have no choice. Another point I'd make is that instead of trying to pretend that horses have no impact, come up with ways to mitigate that impact. Horse manure contains seeds - this can be a real problem some places. Horses can do a real number on streams - I've seen it up here in the NW, esp. in winter. We can offer to build bridges - if we're willing to foot much of the additional expense and effort horses entail, we'll be more likely to keep trails. I've seen large mud pits changed back to clear streams - I'm really glad I helped build the bridges to clean up the water. We do need a bigger parking lot than hikers do - not sure what to do about that one. -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Glenda R. Snodgrass Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 12:11 PM To: David LeBlanc Cc: 'Ridecamp' Subject: RE: [RC] [Guest] No horses allowed in the new Headwaters Forest Reserve FYI, after a bit of reading and private discussion with Ruth, I've decided to write a general letter urging the BLM to reconsider equestrian access to the trails in this forest, without pointing any fingers, since I cannot find anything in the documents (and someone point it out if I've missed it!) that sounds unfairly critical of equestrian access. -- Glenda R. Snodgrass Before you begin, consider ... The Net Effect http://www.theneteffect.com (251) 433-0196 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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