in 10 miles and work together. We load their gear on our pack animals, such as gravel, timbers, decking, even toilets. If you need something in the wilderness, you can usually put it on a pack animal. T e hikers are seeing real benefi ts of working with horsemen. Our stock people enjoy showing off their packing skills to hikers. Because of agencies’ lack of money, many don’t grasp how to deal effi ciently with volunteers.
ANNA GIBSON Lexington, Kentucky Equine Land Conservation Resource
www.elcr.org
The top three is-
sues facing trail rid- ers today each have one impact: Loss of trails. At the Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR), we provide information, tools and technical support to conserve land for equine activ- ity. Maintaining and improving access to trails is one of our key focal areas. We work every day to combat loss of trails and loss of access to trails. Time and time again, we see three things that we, as trail riders, can do to keep and grow our networks of trails:
Anna Gibson
1. WE NEED TO GET ORGANIZED. Budget cuts are closing parks or diminishing the number of staff available to maintain them. As parks close and more people compete for fewer trail resources, it is critical for trail riders to have a seat at the table. A good lesson can be taken from cyclists whose solid, unifi ed voice has garnered hundreds of miles of trails across the country. Equestrians must organize locally to advocate for their parks and to become partners to their park authorities. A good example of how this kind of organization and advocacy works is highlighted in by a Missouri group WHOAA, featured on the ELCR website -
www.elcr.org/resources/WHOAAarticle.pdf
2. WE MUST BE VISIBLE AS GOOD STEWARDS OF OUR TRAILS. We must take care of the trails we use. We should be visible to trail managers as vol- unteers and stewards of the trails. We should take basic precautions to protect our trails, like not riding on trails when they are too wet or otherwise compromised. We should be the kind of user we would want to encounter on the trails.
3. FINALLY, WE MUST INFORM AND EDUCATE. Building trails for horses costs no more and has no more impact than building pedestrian trails. T e key diff erence is the slightly higher clearance needed for mounted users. We must be present in the planning process for new and existing parks. If we are to garner new trails and if we are to maintain the trails we have, we need to help decision makers understand the impact and value of equestrian users in their parks and communities.
We are continually working towards streamlining the process of these agencies that use volunteers. We’ve had projects that took longer to fi ll out the paperwork than to actually do the project. We also need to get younger people involved. T ere are several outdoor coalitions such as the Public Lands Service Coalition, a group that is working hard to get youth involved in outdoor projects. I can see this as a coming trend.
If keeping equestrian trails open and
accessible is important to you, get involved with your local trail organization. As my 90-year-old friend, equestrian trails
ambassador Mary Ben Marshall, says, “Don’t say ‘somebody’ needs
to clean up these trails. T at ‘somebody’ is YOU.” If trail riders
don’t get involved with saving horse trails, the result will be a catastrophic loss that will never be reversed.
Once trails are lost, they are hard to ever reclaim.
Terri Folks lives in Ed- mond, Oklahoma, with her husband, Doug. You can fi nd her along the trails, riding her Mis- souri Fox Trot er, Cuervo. She is strongly involved
with trail advocacy, including currently serving as president of the Friends of Arcadia Lake Equestrian Trails.
58 | November 2012 •
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