From a cattleman's perspective, removing the grazing
rights has proliferated a monster by the name of Yellow Star Thistle.
Quite a number of years ago, we rode the Diablo Vista ride and the trail went
through dry Star Thistle waist high on me while I was on my horse. It is a
true monster of the plant world. Cattlemen care for their land, because if
they don't it won't produce the grass that is the whole point of grazing.
Now there are no cattle and the land is going to Hell in a hand-basket.
Yes, cattle do cut down trails, but so do deer and wild pigs, to a lesser
extent. I can think of a lot worse things than cattle grazing on
land. Neglect is one of those things. And fires are not always a
satisfactory way of controlling brush...witness what is happening to CA right
now in a very bad fire year. A rancher dedicated to taking care of land is
a very good way to keep it in good shape. And thoughtful riders and hikers
can co-exist with cattle on the land, because most beef cattle are
non-aggressive, even the bulls. I've lived with them for 58 years and if
you go about your business, they go about theirs. Just don't mess with
their baby calves and everything is fine.
I agree that we all need to stay on the well traveled
marked tails for the reasons you mention. I do carry water in a
tank in my trailer but it would have been nice to let her drink. My
whole point to the email is why do we have to settle for this when the
rafters demand exclusive usage. I had several phone conversations with
Jeff about people's packs of dogs running off leash plus the bow
hunters and the cars and motorcycles trying to run us down while riding.
He told me "It is BLM land and I can't restrict the dogs or hunters plus
the vans that the rafters use are necessary to get supplies down to the
river". Ok, why do they have to speed and not give right of
way to riders? Then why must we be restricted? Is this not a
double standard. I believe there is more going on behind the scenes. I
lived all my life in the bay area and rode Mt Diablo for over 2 decades
and watched the government and environmentalist eminent domain the
cattle ranch's 2000 acres reduced to 150 when it was
willed specifically to continue as a cattle ranch for future
generations of children to see and use. We were told at the
meetings that the cattle and horses were eroding the
ground. So what do they do instead of letting the cattle grazed
down the weeds and brush they bring herbicide spray in and set
small back fires that got away from them and almost burned the
mountain down. That is how I know that there is more to this and we have
to stand firm. Sorry to go on so but it p.... me off again. I am just
tired of the government telling me what I can and can't do. Isn't anyone
else mad to?
--- On Tue, 7/1/08,
Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx <Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
From:
Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx <Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx> Subject: [RC]
Cronin Ranch To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Tuesday, July 1,
2008, 8:41 AM
The issue is more than just water access. I understand that the rafters do
not want horses in their picnic area and I respect that and will not go
into their picnic area. However, closing the trail that parallels the
river is overkill. It is the prettiest part of the trail, has a breeze and
is just down right nice. Asking horses not to access the river except in a
few places is ok provided they are safe places (the one spot I went to
didn't seem all that safe but I was told that I went to the wrong opening
at that access site). I don't mind not riding along that portion of the
trail during the weekend but during the week there is no one there I will
continue to ride along the river. The sign also says that the closure is
for riparian restoration which is another red herring. There is nothing
wrong with the riparian area that will not come back with time and
certainly horses are not causing further problems. I think what bothers
me most is that it was just done as to the best of my knowledge without any
input from the equestrian community on how best to resolve the problem. I
will say though that equestrians will not endear themselves to BLM if they
continue to cut trail up an and down the hills. There are some rare plants
out there that could be trampled. In addition, these "social trails"
or
whatever you want to call them cause serious erosion problems. Cutting
trail is a bigger problem than some may think and does cause hard feelings
with land managers, so if we want to keep our trails we need to think about
how our actions are viewed, and yes I think about that when I ignore the
signs and go along the river trail, however, I do not go into the picnic
areas. The rafters can live with horse poop on the trail imo. It is so
hot out there it dries very quickly so flies are not a big problem, at
least that I have seen.
Thanks,
Sheila
916.414.6685
Horses lend us the wings we lack. Author Unknown
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