Here in the Black Hills the Forest Service was going to close down the most
popular trail to Harney Peak to horses (the annual use figures put equine
traffic at 5%). To keep it accessible a member of the S.D. Trail Riders
trained under the Forest Service and was certified to take volunteers up several
times a year to do maintenance on that particular trail, plus the S.D.T.R. pays
the Forest Service for their extra man-hours on that trail. You do what
you have to do. The Forest Service here managed our trees very well until
the environmentalists started blocking all timber sales - now several sawmills
have had to close and we've had several horrendous fires (the Jasper fire burned
up 80,000 acres and wiped out the original B.H. Endurance Ride trail - started
by a woman who dropped a cigarette to watch it burn!) because the fuel level is
incredible. Those fires anywhere are horrific, but the Hills are pretty
finite, the "island in the Plains". I'll get off my soapbox now.
Lani, who loves the Hills.
