[RC] Closing trails to horses in largest nat'l forest in US - Sky Ranch
**Please** read this, regarding closure of a
huge area of nat'l forest land, and wilderness areas, in Colorado.
This was sent from Ottie Otterstein,
Chairman of the Back Country Horsemen of Colorado. It is concerning proposed
closing of an extremely large area of wilderness trails to horse use. PLEASE,
read this, and WRITE to the "Content Analysis Group" - address is below. I
do not know what the cut off time is, but apparently it is a very short "comment
period."
I'm sending this in hopes to get the word out to a lot of
people. I apologize that this is so long, but it is very important. We are
losing access to "our" public lands, slowly ... well, it's not so slowly any
more. Seems to be speeding up.I
have a ?sample letter? if anyone is interested, I can e-mail it to you
privately, for your use.
Carla
Richardson Colorado
-------Original Message------- Sent: Sunday,
September 10, 2006 6:02 PM
Subject: Closing of wilderness areas to horses
and stock
Dear fellow trail riders,
The White River National
Forest Travel Management Plan is out. This plan will close horse stock use in
areas of the WRNF. This is the largest NF in the U.S. and is located in
Colorado. Some of the areas it includes is the Collegiate Peaks, Eagles Nest
Wilderness, the Flat Tops, the Holy Cross, Ptarmigan area, Fryingpan, Maroon
Bells, Snowmass. As you can see, this is a vary large portion of the Colorado
Rockies.
One of the areas of this
proposal that I think we all need to be made aware of is the use of segregated
trails. Most districts use a system where foot traffic, and horses can go on any
trail, then you have non-motorized use such as mt. bikes, the motorized use,
etc. The proposed plan changes that system. They are trying to create areas
where hikers will not run into any stock-horses. Some of the trails are proposed
to be closed to horses even though you don't ever see anyone using them. It is
important that horse people get involved. There are people out there trying to
keep horses out of all wilderness areas.
My concern isn't just about
which trails are being closed but about the precedent this sets for other areas.
Most of these areas are in the Wilderness where you see very few if any other
users. I can understand segregating usage in busy areas such as state parks
close to big towns where safety is of concern. The FS states that, "Within
wilderness, travel management conflicts exist. Some hikers dislike
encountering horses or even the evidence of horse use in wilderness areas." They
feel that it is their job to provide a horse free experience for these hikers.
If this proposal passes, the closure of more wilderness in other areas and
states could follow.
The comment period to the FS for this proposal is
very short, so trail riders need to send letters voicing their opposition to
this plan ASAP. If we can voice our concerns with credible data, it will have
more of an impact. If we keep silent, other interests with louder voices will
cause us to lose our right to ride on state and federal lands. Did you realize
that the horse industry is larger than the tobacco industry? We need to stick
together and make a big commotion. Everyone who is involved with horses needs to
join together and make sure our voices are heard.
Please write the Content
Analysis Group, White River National Forest. Forward thisletter to all of your trail riding friends and
all who are involved in the horse industry.
Write to:
WRNF Travel Management Plan and DEIS c/o Content Analysis
Group PO Box 2000 Bountiful, UT 84011-2000
