HELLO MEMBERS
– I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FROM GAIL ZEIGLER, DHA MEMBER AND ARC
VOLUNTEER OUTREACH COORDINATOR. AS YOU KNOW, THE CRONAN RANCH TRAILS
ARE MULTI-USE. FOR YEARS BEFORE EQUESTRIANS RODE THERE, THE
RAFTING COMPANIES HAD ACCESS TO THE RIVER FOR LUNCH ‘PULL OUTS’ – ALONG THE
RIVER TRAILS. IN ORDER TO KEEP THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY, THE
FOLLOWING TRAIL ADJUSTMENTS ARE BEING MADE BY THE BLM. PLEASE READ
BELOW FOR THE DETAILS AND HELP US SPREAD THE WORD TO OTHER EQUESTRIAN GROUPS SO
WE CAN ALL CONTINUE TO ENJOY OUR TRAILS.
I’m hoping you can assist me in sharing information
about Cronan Ranch. I’d like this message to be communicated to as many
horse clubs as possible.
Jeff Horn, Outdoor Recreation Planner for the BLM
contacted me concerned about a call he received from the “Call Three Problem
Solver”. An equestrian apparently called Channel Three with concerns that
the BLM is going to close Cronan Ranch to Equestrians. This is not True. Equestrians are
allowed at Cronan Ranch. However, Jeff Horn, has advised me
that for
horses there will be seasonal access closuresto parts of the River.
The seasonal closure will be during the rafting season which is from about
Memorial Day to Labor Day. The BLM will provide equestrians with
three access points to
the river so horses can drink. One on the Magnolia/Strazza side and two on
the Cronan Ranch Side. Three access points to the river are very
reasonable.
The picnic tables that we see along the river are owned
by several rafting outfitters who pay the BLM for the ability to use Cronan
Ranch as a lunch stop for their paying customers. Equestrians and other
visitors to the park have been using the picnic tables, which is normally not
a problem if the outfitters are not there. If outfitters arrive with
paying guests, the
public needs to respect the outfitters rights to access their picnic sites. What is becoming
an issue is horse manure and food service to paying clients. The
outfitters are providing a lunch to their clients and there are potential health
and welfare complaints about horse manure mixing with food. The BLM would
prefer that the issue never get to that point, and has found a reasonable solution to the
problem.
My goal with this e-mail is to pass along information to
the horse community which can be summarized as
follows:
·Horses are allowed at Cronan
Ranch
·There will be Seasonal Closures to the river
from approximately Memorial Day through Labor Day
·The BLM will provide Three access
points to the river during this time, so horses can drink
·The picnic tables along the river are owned
by Outfitters who pay for these areas as a lunch stop for their paying
guests
·Please keep horses away from the picnic
tables - so that
horse manure and food do not mix.
And, just so people know, I am an equestrian who uses
Cronan Ranch about 3 times a week with my horse. I am also a founding
member of the Divide Trail Patrol. I believe the BLM requests and actions
are all reasonable.
**If you woke up breathing
you're already having a pretty good day**
"It is not
the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to
the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and
blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because
there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive
to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends
himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt,
Citizenship in a Republic, Address at the Sorbonne, April 23,
1910.
