CALLING ALL EQUESTRIANS

Urgent Help Needed!

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Dear Equine Community,

At the Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR), we are dedicated to safeguarding the essence of equestrian communities. Our mission is clear: to protect and conserve private lands for horses and horse-related activities on a national scale.

 Right now, we need your assistance in a crucial research effort. ELCR is urgently investigating cases where municipalities and local governments have adopted unfriendly equine zoning laws, resulting in a significant decline in the equestrian character of these communities.

We're turning to the equine community for your firsthand knowledge and experience. If you are aware of any instances in your community or elsewhere where rezoning and land loss have dramatically impacted the equestrian character of the area, we want to hear from you.

To share your information, please reply to:

elcradmin@elcr.org

Your insights are invaluable and will play a pivotal role in our ongoing mission to protect and preserve equestrian landscapes. By sharing your knowledge, you can help us advocate for better land use policies that support equestrian activities.

Your contribution will make a significant difference. Together, we can work towards preserving the equestrian way of life for generations to come.

Thank you for being a part of this vital endeavor.

Sincerely,

Holley Groshek

Executive Director

Equine Land Conservation Resource

P.S. Your input is crucial in helping us protect the equestrian character of communities nationwide. Please share this alert with fellow horse enthusiasts and let's make an impact together!

SUBMIT YOUR 2023 RTP TRAILS ACHIEVEMENT NOMINATIONS

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Deadline for nomination submissions is 5 pm EST, November 17, 2023.

BCHA is a member of the Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT), which represents an important national coalition of all trail users who support and benefit from grants paid via the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP). You can learn more about the RTP here.

CRT is current is accepting nominations for its 2023 achievement awards which will recognize outstanding trail projects funded by the RTP. CRT will host an awards ceremony in Washington DC to honor the winners on January 24, 2024. Special guests, including Members of Congress, will be invited to participate.

Award winners will be selected from projects nominated by public agencies, trail administrators or other project sponsors. Projects must be completed in order to receive an award. In addition, projects completed before 2018 are ineligible. Project award categories include:

·        Construction and Design

·        Maintenance and Rehabilitation

·        Public-Private Partnerships and Access to Public Lands

·        Community Linkage

·        Education and Communication

·        Accessibility Enhancement

·        Multiple-Use Management and “Corridor Sharing”

·        Use of Youth Conservation/Service Corps and Community Outreach

·        Engaging Public-Sector Partners

·        Enhancement of Federal Lands

We invite you to nominate an outstanding project and/or encourage the sponsor(s) of an excellent project in your state to submit a nomination. We also again encourage those making nominations to solicit support from their Members of Congress to help grow awareness of excellent RTP-funded projects and the program itself.

The nomination process can be completed via an online form found here.

For more information about CRT visit https://www.americantrails.org/crt.

A Legend Passes Over

It is with great sadness that we share Stu Sorenson passed away in his sleep October 25th. Stu was one of the few remaining charter members of the Back Country Horsemen. At the National Board of Directors meeting in Kalispell this spring Stu walked into the courtyard and the woman standing next to me said "now I know I'm in Montana".

As a child Stu spent several years living on the wild South Fork of the Flathead River where his dad traded the family car for a mule. Stu was 10 and this was the start of his lifetime of loving to pack horses and mules.

Stu got his first packing job when he was 18 and spent the rest of his life packing tens of thousands of miles in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Glacier National Park and surrounding wild country.

Stu loved the Back Country Horsemen and never missed a chance to share why we started. He was very proud of the success of the organization and that we had made it 50 years. Stu had a table of his packing artifacts set up at our BCH 50th Anniversary Celebration and he loved that everyone stopped by to visit with him. He was thrilled that the organization he helped start in Columbia Falls in 1973 has spread across the country. He was thankful for every member and grateful they were a part of BCH.

Happy trails Stu and may your packs ride well as you make your final trip over the divide.

Submitted by the Back Country Horsemen of the Flathead

KANSAS

A group of Kansas 4-H members saw a need and tackled it while enjoying an overnight trail riding weekend at a southeast Kansas lake. Neosho County 4-H Horse Project members noticed that many of the 20 horse pens at the North Campground at Big Hill Lake were overgrown, and some pens even had small trees growing in them. The six young riders, ages 11-15, decided the pens didn’t look very inviting and cleaned them out. Three hours later, the pens had a whole different look! The hard work and energy of these young equestrians made the pens more comfortable for horses and much easier for equine campers to clean out. The overnight campout was under the supervision of BCHKS Big Hill Chapter member Sondra Harris. Thank you, Neosho County 4-H members, for making a difference. 

Gate Project in Northern Colorado

On June 12^th, 13th and 14th, several members of the Northern Colorado Back Country Horsemen (NCBCH) chapter installed two gates on a couple of very popular hiking and equestrian trails near Red Feather Lakes Village in northern Colorado. The first gate involved replacing a wire gate with a 10 foot horse friendly gate. The second gate involved replacing a 14 foot gate that had been poorly installed and had outlived its usefulness. None of the original posts were pressure treated nor had been cemented in the ground. The National Forest Service provided pressure treated posts, cement, and gates, and the NCBCH team provided all of the tools, equipment and labor. This was a cooperative project with the Roosevelt/Arapahoe Forest in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. Range specialist Sean Uhle and intern Clare Callamy helped and provided guidance on the NSF requirements. The result was a very professionally installed pair of gates that will be used by hikers, bikers, equestrians and ranchers. NCBCH wishes to express our thanks to Mr. Uhle and Ms.Callamy for their help and cooperation on this much needed project.

L Jay McDonald

NCBCH Vice President, Project Coordinator

UPCOMING EVENTS

2024 National Board Meeting

CASPER, WYOMING

March 24th - 27th, 2024

Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center

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.



• Limit pictures to 2
• Provide description: project, place, purpose, etc. No more than one paragraph.
• Please include the name of person and chapter submitting the pictures.

2023-2024 BCHA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

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