CHAPTERS

Ruby Mountain Ruckus

Appalachian Trail Equestrian Volunteers: A Unique Partnership

It’s spring in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The tree canopy is finally green after winter, and the wildflowers start to carpet parts of the forest floor. Northbound thru-hikers are beginning to hit this section of the Appalachian Trail after setting off from Springer Mountain in Georgia, the Trail’s southern terminus

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Despite committed efforts by the ATC, its partners, and volunteers to keep the Trail clear, those hikers are probably detouring around or climbing over toppled trees and branches that snarl this section of the Trail after winter. Winter blowdowns happen along all of the A.T., even after a mild season. But clearing the Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is always especially difficult due to its remote nature.



It’s become even harder since 2024 when more than 800 miles of trail in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia were impacted by Hurricane Helene. To compound the devastation caused by Helene, the winter that immediately followed was hard, causing higher numbers of trees and branches to come down, further eroding the landscape, and weakening tree root systems. In the spring of 2025, volunteers clearing the winter blowdowns estimate that it took teams days to clear just one-tenth of a mile of trail.

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Back Country Horsemen of Kansas

The Kansas Horse Council and Back Country Horsemen of Kansas were honored to be invited to participate in the Sunflower Stretch of the America 250 coast-to-coast relay across the United States. At 9am, September 22, a team of cyclists coming from the west on the Flint Hills Trail met the equestrians at Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park and passed the baton carrying a replica of the Declaration of Independence. The group of 18 equestrians, led by a vintage buckboard pulled by a team of Percherons, carried the baton east for the next 11 miles of diverse terrain including bridge crossings over creeks, canopies of trees, limestone bluffs, and the iconic rolling Flint Hills. Of the 18 riders, 11 were BCHKS members. It was a beautiful cool morning for a ride on the Flint Hills Trail, a rail-trail currently covering the eastern half of Kansas. The team of Percherons set an energetic pace for the riders to follow, and at the end of the 11-mile stretch, the equestrian group passed the baton to another cycling club for the next leg of the journey across the Sunflower State.

The America 250 Relay is a non-motorized coast-to-coast relay celebrating 250 years of American Independence and the 35^th anniversary of the American Discovery Trail. The relay started in July in California and entered Kansas on September 14 with plans to reach the Atlantic Ocean on Thanksgiving Day. The KHC/BCHKS group was proud to be one of the few equestrian groups invited to participate in this historical event.

BCHA MEMBER APPRECIATION

PUBLIC LANDS

REI Announces Grants for BCHA

Last month, the Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS), facilitated the award of a $18,600 grant to BCHA from REI for participating in activities related to National Public Lands Day (September 26^th). On that day, BCHA joined trail organizations across the country to host information tables at REI stores and hold stewardship events and group activities to celebrate our public lands.

Did you participate in one of these events? Share your story here.

REI made a historic donation of $1 million to a number of trail organizations for this event, with half going to boots-on-the-ground stewardship projects. A total of $500,000 soon will be distributed among projects aligned with three categories: advocacy, stewardship, and education. Among those projects are two submitted by BCHA chapters:

• San Juan Backcountry Horsemen (Colorado) received a $3,000 grant to clear downed trees and repair trail that has an existing rut on the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail within the US Forest Service’s Conejos Peak Ranger District.

• BCH Arizona will use $15,000 in funding to provide backcountry support along multiple segments of the Arizona National Scenic Trail in part by delivering water, food and tools via horseback so that conservation corps members are not managing heavy loads for the work they will perform along the trail.

This opportunity serves as yet another reminder about the importance and depth of BCHA’s partnerships with like-minded trail organizations. 

BCHA Takes Decisive Action in Defense of 2005 US Forest Service Travel Management Rule

Trails Important to BCHA Members Could be at Risk



Last month, BCHA played a leading role in developing and submitting public comments to defend the need to retain critical safeguards contained with the US Forest Service’s 2005 Travel Management Rule (TMR). In order to create more opportunities for motorized access throughout our national forests, the US Department of Agriculture has proposed a number of proposals that would eliminate many of the TMR’s safeguards that, collectively, have worked for over 20-years to minimize trail conflicts by separating motorized and non-motorized uses while protecting natural quiet, wildlife, watersheds and archaeological resources.

Click here read more about BCHA’s response, our national coalition, and the 90 other organizations that signed on in support of our position. Critical to this effort was our partnership with American Trails and American Hiking Society. Our 13-page policy letter, submitted to the agency in late September, can be found here.

Our objective in developing the letter was to set a high bar regarding what issues must be examined in detail via the agency’s forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement (expected Spring 2027).

Importantly, the motor vehicle designation status of National Forest System trails important to you will remain in effect until the Department completes the process of amending the TMR regulations. The projected completion date is expected in late 2027.

Public Overwhelmingly Opposes Watering Down the TMR

The Center for Western Priorities conducted an assessment of public comments and found that the public overwhelmingly opposes the Department of Agriculture tinkering in any way whatsoever with the TMR. It found that 99.0 percent of the 134,312 comments posted to regulations.gov oppose the proposal.

Only 0.4 percent of public comments supported the proposal. With so much public support behind the tried-and-tested TMR, you have to wonder why in the world is the Department of Agriculture proposing this radical rewrite in the first place. BCHA plans to emphasize, again and again, during the public review period for the proposed rule and Draft EIS that removing barriers to access by ORVs to our national forests carries with it many unintended consequences that threaten the safety and recreational experience currently enjoyed by users of pack and saddle stock. 

VOLUNTEER HOURS UPDATE

SUBMIT STATE VOLUNTEER HOURS

It is time to submit Volunteer Hours

UPDATED VOLUNTEER HOURS FORM IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT

https://www.bcha.org/new-forms-and-documents-page/

Updated Volunteer Hours Worksheet, please check it out.

Email to John Chepulis at Volunteer@bcha.org

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GRANTS

YOUTH GRANTS STILL AVAILABLE

Get your application in soon!!

YOUTH GRANT APPLICATION HERE



2026 EQUISURE IS AVAILABLE

New Pricing: Individual $25 Family $50

There are some changes this year to how you purchase Equisure Insurance. All applications are processed online and paid via the Equisure portal. Due to these changes, BCHA can no longer accept mailed applications or payments. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

CLICK HERE FOR FAQ

INSTRUCTIONS TO PURCHASE EQUISURE HERE - PLEASE READ!

(Iinformation in this document you will need)

FUNDRAISING

Greetings BCHA!

What is our BCHA Legacy fund? Where are we at? ​Please see the article in the November 2025 BCHA Monthly Update, BCHA November 2025 Monthly Update, or click here for a reminder on what this fund is.



BCHA PROMOTIONAL ITEMS HERE

ADVERTISERS

ADVERTISING SPACE - Click here if you would like to advertise

THANK YOU SPONSORS!

Do you know a company who may be interested in becoming a BCHA Sponsor? Show them this flyer or have them go to BCHA.org.

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.

2026-2027 BCHA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE