The Highline A tri-annual newsletter of the Back County Horsemen of Oregon Winter 2015 An Update on the Effort to Keep Oregon and Washington Trails Open Submitted by: Dan Applebaker At the BCHA Annual Meeting in Wilderness Act, September 3, 1964, Sec. Sacramento during the last weekend 2(b) and Sec. 4(b). How can the mandate in April of this year, the Backcountry to provide for the use and enjoyment of the Horsemen of Oregon (BCHO) were given American people, and to leave wilderness an opportunity to present an effort they, unimpaired for future use as wilderness, be along with the Backcountry Horsemen possible if historic access trails are closed of Washington, have been working on due to lack of maintenance? How can the for some time to keep wilderness trails public purposes for which wilderness are open and available for use in their states. devoted be continued when access is not Although considerably more complicated, available on thousands of miles of trails put simply it is asking the Forest Service into thousands of acres wilderness? to use their own procedures to reevaluate the methods and primitive equipment We ask if continuing to require the use they have historically used to maintain of traditional primitive equipment thereby wilderness trails they can no longer expanding the trail maintenance defi cit maintain by such means. and denying access to thousands of acres of wilderness is more important What’s Inside In other words, our two state BCH than complying with the intent of the Act. organizations are asking the Forest The Wilderness Act does allow the use Cover Story (Continued) 3 Service not to let these trails fall into such of motorized tools for trail maintenance if President’s Letter 4 disrepair because of their insistence on that use satisfi es the test of, “as necessary using traditional primitive tools which have to meet minimum requirements for the Thank Goodness Hoppy Wasn’t Here 7 become too slow, ineffi cient and expensive administration of the area for the purposes to maintain them in a usable condition. of this Act”. We see in our trips to the Consider Yellowstone for Your Next Trip 8 We are convinced that with 63% of our wilderness areas that the required use of National Director’s Report 9 trails receiving no maintenance what-so- primitive tools is not even coming close ever and only 25% being maintained to to meeting the minimum requirements for Badger Creek Wilderness 10 standard, that thousands of miles of trails the administration of these areas for the will be lost to recreational horsemen. purposes of this Act – Not even close. Big Meadows Horse Camp Clean Up 11 This situation also means that the Forest When Work is Fun 14 Service has failed in its legally mandated So what are the Back Country Horsemen requirement to administer wilderness of Oregon and Washington doing about Memoirs of a Novice Back Country Rider 16 areas “for the use and enjoyment of the it? American people in such a manner as will 2016 Winter Convention Info 18 With the help of the BCH organizations of leave them unimpaired for future use as Oregon and Washington, Dave Price (a EEBCHO & Mt. Washington Wilderness 19 wilderness”, and “Except as otherwise member of both BCH State organizations) provided in this Act, wilderness areas fi led a request for a Minimum Requirements East Cascades Chapter Update 21 shall be devoted to the public purposes of Assessment (MRA) on the Wenaha River recreation, scenic, scientifi c, educational, The Comfort Zone 24 Trail in the Wenaha/Tucannon Wilderness conservation, and historic use.” (The Cody’s Corner 26 Continued on page 3... BCHO State Officers Come to a meeting and President make a difference... Jerry Bentz [email protected] Columbia Gorge Chapter Meets: The 3rd Wednesday of the month at the Hood River Saddle Vice President East Club, 4384 Belmont Dr Hood River OR 97031 Jim Icenbice Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. Please confirm meeting with contact. [email protected] Contact: Joy Senger at [email protected] Vice President West East Cascades Chapter Emily Elias Meets: The 2nd Monday of every month at the Black Bear Diner, [email protected] 1465 NE 3rd St., Bend OR meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Contact: Buck Davis, [email protected] Membership See your local chapter Emerald Empire Chapter Meets: the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Utility District building, Public Lands Director 33733 Seavey Lp Road, Eugene, OR 97405 at 7:00 p.m. Becky Wolf Contact: Emily Elias, [email protected] [email protected] High Desert Trail Riders Chapter Education/LNT Director Meets: The 2nd Tuesday of each month at More Than Mongolian Grill, Becky Wolf 4470 S 6th St, Klamath Falls at 7:00 p.m. [email protected] Contact: Jim Icenbice, jimicenbice@[email protected] North Umpqua Chapter Newsletter Articles & Layout Sara Lagasse & Shelly Williams Meets: The 3rd Thursday of the month at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1020 Oakley Road, Roseburg, OR 97471 in Room #317 [email protected] at 7:00 p.m. Contact: Janet Miller, [email protected] Newsletter Advertising Chris Worden Sourdough Chapter [email protected] Meets: The third Saturday of the month at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 150 Lewis Court, Cave Junction. Please feel free to contact our officers or staff if you need 6:00 p.m. in the winter and at 7:00 p.m. in the summer any assistance or have a question pertaining to BCHO. Contact: Dick Butler, [email protected] Steens Chapter PURPOSES of Meets: The 3rd Wednesday of every month at El Toreo Restaurant, BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN of OREGON 239 N Broadway, Burns, OR Please confirm meeting with contact. Contact: Leon Pielstick [email protected] To PERPETUATE the common sense use and enjoyment of horses in America’s back country and wilderness areas. West Cascades Chapter Meets: The 1st Wednesday of each month at Elmer’s Restaurant, 3950 To WORK to insure that public lands remain open to Market Street NE, Salem, OR. Dinner time is at 6:00 p.m. meeting at recreational stock use. 7:00 p.m. Contact: Jennifer Paulson, [email protected] To ASSIST the various government, state, and private agencies in their maintenance and management of said resource. Territorial Riders Chapter Meets: The 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Beavercreek Fire Department, 22310 S Beavercreek Rd. Beavercreek, Or. 97004 To EDUCATE, encourage and solicit active participation in at 7:00 p.m. the use of the back country resource by stock users and the Contact: Tim Lagasse, [email protected] general public commensurate with our heritage. Wilderness Packer Chapter TO FOSTER and encourage the formation of new state Meets: Held by conference call every other month organizations and BCHA. Contact: Mat Wooley, [email protected] 2 Cover Story Continued... on the Umatilla National Forest straddling the border between trail conditions and how to effectively partner to get work done Oregon and Washington. The legislative process establishing the most efficiently, economically and safely. Mr. Pena cited the the Wenaha/Tucannon Wilderness specifically mentions that Trails and Wilderness Working Group (TWWG), on the Naches motorized equipment can be considered “where appropriate and/ Ranger District of the Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest, as or necessary” for trail maintenance. The MRA is the procedure such a group that has been successful through the years. developed by the Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center for the Forest Service to reevaluate the methods and primitive Following the formal meeting, the Deputy Regional Forester and equipment they have historically used to maintain wilderness several of the staff members were queried regarding participation trails. in VIP rides or pack trips and the BCH of Washington annual Public Lands Day event. Without exception all agreed that Dave used much of the methodology contained in the “Guide Regional participation would be beneficial to all parties. BCH of for Requesting an MRA” developed by the BCH of Oregon and Oregon plans to host a VIP pack trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness available for BCH organizations from the BCH of Oregon. Nearly and BCH of Washington will send a formal invitation for Public two dozen copies of these “Guides” were distributed at this year’s Lands Day. Also in the post meeting discussion, it was agreed National Meeting in Sacramento. that BCH of Oregon and Washington should request follow-up meetings with the Regional Office. The Forest Service agreed to complete an MRA on the Wenaha River Trail as requested and that process is underway. While So where do we go from here? waiting for the Agency to decide how and when to do the MRA (which is somewhat of cumbersome and time consuming project, You may find some of this repetitious but it is absolutely necessary and perhaps made intentionally so) a huge fire burned most of that we continue to constantly keep bringing our issues in front the Wenaha/Tucannon Wilderness. Now the need for the MRA of the Forest Service at all levels. We need to meet routinely at is even more necessary to restore the trail systems from the the District and Forest levels to discuss priorities; to request they damage of the fire, consider all appropriate methods and tools (this is a good time to bring up the BCH of Oregon Power Saw/Crosscut Saw Efficiency An MRA was also requested for the Duckabush Trail on the Study), and to prioritize what projects are important to horsemen. Olympic National Forest in Washington but no response from the Agency has been received as yet. Always in the forefront of our discussions is the need to keep wilderness access available to meet the needs of the public and Our next step was a meeting with the Regional Forester for the the mandates of the Wilderness Act.