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Re: Sierra Club



Sheri Kuykendall wrote:

> Based on some of the comments I've read recently, I'm beginning to wonder if it is impossible to be an environmentalist (i.e. Sierra Club member) and a participating member of the endurance community.    Please help me understand some of the anti-environmental sentiment being voiced on Ridecamp.

Could you be more specific about the ant-environmental sentiment on ridecamp?  I'm wondering if I missed the post or interpretted it differently.  I am an environmentalist in the true, original form of the word.  Outdoor person, Zoologist, etc.  I believe in walk softly and only leave footprints.  (If even that.)  Preserve what is there for future users and the wildlife, but do not cut the resource off from the public.

>  What have your experiences been with Sierra Club members and other environmentalists?

I have had folks release horses from pens at rides "to save them from abuse".  Some of the horses were later found, injured, miles away.  I have had folks steal ride markers (surveyor's tape) to "save the trails from abuse".  These were the same trails in a Nt'l Forest that were almost entirely maintained by the endurance club.  If not for the club, they would not have existed.  With very few exceptions, I have not seen degradation of the trail from the ride use.  I have had "environmental groups" disable
trucks at horse trail head parking to "teach us a lesson".  These people & their methods I strongly disagree with.

I disagree with banning horse use in areas that have been traveled and explored by horse for centuries in the same way I disagree banning the foot traffic in the same areas as long as the area's use was responsible.

>  Any environmentalists out there and how do you reconcile concerns for the environment with your passion for endurance riding?

What are <your> concerns for the environment that need to be addressed?  Howare you defining environmentalism?  My concerns are keeping trails in good shape (erosion control, no "rogue" trails (to cut corners), respecting wildlife in their homes, reducing the trash in the wild (we pack a lot of trash out), and maintaining the trails that we have.  These activities fit in nicely with my idea of environmentalism and my activities as an endurance rider.

Linda Flemmer




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