2024

NATIONAL BOARD MEETING

Thank you to all who attended, volunteered and helped make all of this possible.

Celebrate National Trails Day® on June 1, 2024, by joining a local event and taking the #NationalTrailsDay Pledge.

Each year people all across the country unite on the first Saturday of June in celebration of American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day®. It’s the perfect opportunity to set off on a local trail with others in your community. Join the nationwide movement to give back to trails and build a world where everyone has access and feels welcome to enjoy the great outdoors.

Find a local event and take the National Trails Day® pledge to leave the trails and the outdoor community better than you found them.

Celebrate the 32nd annual National Trails Day® with these easy steps:

1. Join: Find a local event or create your own and join the nationwide movement.
2. Pledge: Take the #NationalTrailsDay Pledge and commit to leaving the trails and the outdoor community better than you found them. Takes the pledge to be entered for a chance to win one of four outdoor gear prize packages.
3. Connect: Tag #NationalTrailsDay and @AmericanHiking and share how you'll leave the trails and the outdoor community better than you found them. Tag your photos and video on Instagram for a change to win several outdoor gear prize packages.

BCHA encourages all members to use the E-Bike Reporting Form and the Horse Camp Incident Form when they see problems.

E-BIKE REPORTING FORM

HORSE CAMP INCIDENT FORM

The application deadline for the Trail Stewardship Partners Grant Program has been extended to Friday, April 26, 2024

Change is exciting but also challenging! There seem to be some minor growing pains with moving our application process online. To accommodate, we are extending the application deadline for our Trail Stewardship Partners Grant Program to Friday, April 26, 2024 and have added some clarifications on the application expectations to our website in the application materials section of the program page. We do not expect this change to cause significant changes to our award timeline. 

It is with a heavy heart that I write to let you know that the last of BCH's four founders, Roland Cheek, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday morning, April 13. As most of you know, Roland, Ken Ausk, Dennis Swift, and Dulane Fulton founded BCH in 1973.

Roland wore a lot of hats – safety director for Montana's largest wood products firm, part-time outfitter and guide, book author, newspaper columnist, radio show host, and magazine writer – to name a few. Please take a moment to honor Roland's remarkable life and watch again his video about the inception of BCH at https://youtu.be/m27V3z8Bid8?si=gPQcnrM2vR_uzRoS.

If you would like to send condolences to Roland's wife Jane and family, their mailing address is PO Box 224, Columbia Falls, MT 59912.

In a transformative journey characterized by resilience and determination, the Backcountry Horsemen of Arkansas have turned the impossible into the “Impossible.” Overcoming obstacles and pushing themselves, they recently achieved a significant milestone by completing comprehensive US Forest Service (USFS) standard sawyer training at Devils Den State Park. This collaborative effort, uniting all four chapters, signifies a historic moment for equestrians in the state, highlighting their unwavering commitment to trail preservation.

The road to mastery was not without its challenges. Certification was a requirement to utilize saws on USFS and National Park Service (NPS) lands where Backcountry members work tirelessly to maintain trails. For years, efforts to find a suitable certification class proved elusive. However, two members of the group studied under USFS professionals and became instructors themselves.

READ MORE....

Hi-Line and Hobbles Chapter

       By Lauren Konchar   

This month our chapter partnered with Utah FFA and Young Living Farms to promote education. FFA students from all over the state gathered to practice judging halter, trail, and western pleasure classes. Chapter members rode horses in the classes for the students to judge. At the end of the show, we featured some pack horses and Chapter President Brandi Drury did a presentation on BCH and our purpose. Our chapter provided the prizes for the winning students and for the adult educators putting on the event, including a set of hobbles. One of the judges was so impressed she asked us how to join the chapter! 

There is something satisfying about riding trails that cannot be accessed by motorized vehicles and something more satisfying about putting my ponies on the payroll; putting them to work to get people and materials to hard to reach places. This is why I like to volunteer at the Little Missouri State Park in western North Dakota; 45 miles of trails of rugged badlands along the Little Missouri River with views that takes my breath away; riding that really make you feel like you are in the west and as back country as North Dakota can get with trails that can be as challenging as anywhere else, but without the rocks and elevation of our western neighbors in the Rockies and Tetons.  Wildflowers like the pink prairie rose and yellow prickly pear cactus can be seen and green prairie grasses and patches of white birch and enormous cotton woods can also be seen with the breeze rustling the leaves with a sound that puts a person at ease. I feel like I am on top of world riding up the buttes and switchbacks and over hogbacks that connect them looking out over miles of badlands I am humbled by the beauty of the landscape. 

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE...

Shelia,

I wanted to extend our gratitude to you and your folks for all the hard work you guys did at Cottonwood Patch. We recognize and understand the importance of that place, especially to you all. Not only were those improvements wonderful for the short-term, but I believe that they were absolutely necessary to keeping that campground up and running. It is folks like you all who bring up these issues and make a real difference on public lands. We are happy to be partnered with your group and value that connection.

We look forward to steering this partnership and coordination going forward. We can’t say it enough: thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please pass along our gratitude to your members and feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,



Volunteer Service Hours

Here are the number of hours and their calculated value for the work that BCHA members have done over the last 29 years. The total for 29 years is 7,181,193 hours for a total donated dollar value of $203,858,229.

Wow!! Thanks BCHA Members for all your hard work.

TIME TO RENEW YOUR EQUISURE INSURANCE OR SIGN UP FOR THE FIRST TIME

$1,000,000 Coverage for $20 Individual or $40 for a family.

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CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION

SHARE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

Does your chapter have a trail, project or great story you would like to share? Please send them to michellewade@bcha.org. We will do our best to include them here.



• Please send as Word doc and pictures as attachments not in the word doc.
• Provide description: project, place, purpose, etc.
• Please include the name of person and chapter submitting the pictures.

2024-2025 BCHA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Congratulations to the new members of the

Executive Committee



Brad Pollman, Heather Cox and Dana Chambers

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