Advocacy-public lands-resources

Public Riding Sessions at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Cancelled!

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By Carmen Porter, BCHA Board Member & Fun Show Committee Chair For many years, the Boulder County Fairgrounds offered public sessions from November through April, which was a wonderful but unfortunately underutilized opportunity for the equestrian community to bring their horses to the indoor arena to practice for the low cost of $5/horse.  With the recently approved updated Boulder County Fairgrounds Policy Manual, all those public sessions have been cancelled. If you were one of the users who took advantage of this, it is a big loss, as there is no other  indoor public arena opportunity for practice.  Some of you may not have been aware that public sessions at the indoor arena existed and might have used them if you knew.  Every year we try to remind the equestrian community about public sessions, but this year when we contacted the fairgrounds office to confirm the dates, we were informed that the public sessions have been cancelled. Traditionally, the public sessions consisted of Tuesday evening roping, Wednesday all day open riding, Thursday evening barrel racing (as well as a day in the exhibit building set up for dog agility course practice).  The cancellation of all these public events was proposed in the presentation of the updated fairgrounds policy manual to Boulder County Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee at their meeting held on May 23.  POSAC advises staff and the county commissioners on management of county Open Space properties, and the fairgrounds are one of those facilities.  As such, POSAC has quite an influence on decisions […]

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Removing Recreational Sport Shooting from National Forest Land Along the Northern Front Range

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By Brittany Steffensen What if sport shooting was eliminated on US Forest Service (USFS) land in Boulder County and neighboring counties to the north and south? As equestrians who escape into the mountains for fun filled weekend trail rides, how would this impact your visits to the Front Range? With the rapid population growth and recreational use along the Front Range, recreational sport shooting on National Forest lands has become increasingly popular, bringing with it rising concerns about safety of all persons enjoying these lands. A collaborative, interagency solution has been in the works for many years through the efforts of the Northern Front Range Recreational Sport Shooting Management Partnership (NFRRSSMP). Their goal is to provide safe, responsible, and accessible recreational sport shooting opportunities while addressing conflicts between multiple recreational users on USFS lands across the northern Colorado Front Range. On February 8th, the board of directors of BCHA had the pleasure to sit down and hear from Mr. Gary Sanfacon, the Project Coordinator for the NFRRSSMP. As a Boulder County native, Sanfacon is honored to serve as the point person for this partnership between Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Larimer counties, in addition to the U.S. Forest Service, Northeast region of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest, and Pawnee National Grassland. Sanfacon, too, has been impacted by sport shooting in the mountains of Boulder County. He shared that the ultimate goal for NFRRSSMP is to remove sport shooting (not permitted hunting) on Boulder County’s national forest land by providing a public

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Planning to trail ride on National Forest?

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By Clare Tone Download the free U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Motor Vehicle Use Maps first! The USFS has established official Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) for the Roosevelt and Arapaho National Forests. These National Forests include some great horseback riding trails in Western Boulder County. The MVUM displays National Forest routes, roads and trails open to legal motorized travel (4WD, ATVs/UTVs, motorbikes, etc). Importantly, routes not shown on the MVUM are not open to motor vehicles. It’s not enough for vehicles to rely on signs to indicate where they can ride on the National Forest. It is the vehicle user’s responsibility to refer to the MVUM to ensure they are riding on legally designated routes. What does this mean for horseback riders? We can use the MVUM to plan our rides on USFS lands to minimize potentially dangerous run-ins with vehicles. The maps can be printed directly from the USFS website. Even better, download the FREE map onto your smartphone from the Avenza App store. The App does not require internet/cell reception to display map features and your location in real time. Below are the  links to the areas covered by the Boulder Ranger District. You can also find other MVUM areas in the Avenza store as well! Roosevelt National Forest: North Half Roosevelt National Forest: South Half  What should you do if you encounter vehicles on undesignated routes? As always it’s best to demonstrate good trail etiquette and communication. Often it’s a chance to educate others about safe interaction between horses and vehicles. When we

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Baling Twine—what barn doesn’t have some!

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By Linda P Recently, looking at a handful of baling twine, it made me recall a post I did quite a while ago, What do you do with all that baling twine?  I thought I would revisit this and share some recycling resources. Baling twine just seems to accumulate, with most of it winding up in the landfill. You can’t burn it, the polypropylene twine emits toxic fumes. Worse, is how it can impact wildlife. When wildlife and livestock ingest baling twine they can become seriously ill or die. Twine also poses a deadly strangling hazard to birds. According to Waste-Not Recycling, researchers have reported that baling twine is responsible for entangling and killing around 10 percent of osprey chicks annually in some states (photo right: © Idaho Department of Fish and Game). I reached out to Kennedy Roddy, Education and Outreach Specialist, Boulder County Resource Conservation Division. I was told that this material is NOT recyclable in curbside collections, and was directed to Waste-Not Recycling in Johnstown. I found they offered a great recycling program, list of collection sites by county, and  information about setting up a program at your barn.  They also offer “Bedder“, an animal bedding, that is dust and spore free. It is excellent for at home, stall or shows; and is 100% recyclable, rapidly composts and an excellent worm breeding environment. Please visit them online to find out more. In addition JAX offers baling twine recycling drop-off at their locations in Fort Collins, Loveland, Lafayette, and Broomfield. What Can you Do? Think about starting a collection area at your barn. We

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Do Horses Spread Weeds Along Trails?

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A follower, Randy W, recently sent me this article for Horse Science News. This issue has been under discussion many times in the Boulder area and here is a recent study that disproves the old question: Do horses spread weeds? Do Horses Spread Weeds Along Trails? By Liz Osborn, HorseScienceNews.com Horses have been blamed for scattering unwanted weeds across the landscape as they travel down public trails. This accusation has now been scientifically investigated. The results reassure trail riders that horses in the United States are not guilty as charged. Research probed from several different angles the possibility of horses causing non-native plants to take root alongside trails. The raw material examined was horse hay, manure and hoof debris. Samples were collected at endurance riding events in five states: North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The study investigated whether weeds would germinate from the material when carefully cultivated in pots under ideal conditions. Researchers also looked at what grew from the horse debris left alongside trails. They found that only a tiny portion of the potted hay samples actually sprouted any non-native plants. Meanwhile, no exotic species emerged among the cultivated manure or hoof debris. Alongside the horse endurance trails, nearly 300 plots of hay, manure and hoof debris that got left behind were monitored to see what plants they produced. Only three of these plots sprouted anything, and all were native plants. By the end of the second growing season, no plants had survived in the trailside leavings. A third angle of this study compared plant

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Forest Service Directed to Maintain Trails with Volunteers

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FEBRUARY 11, 2015 AHC WASHINGTON UPDATE Copyright 2015 American Horse Council National Forest Trail Bill Introduced On February 10, 2015, Congresswomen Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Tim Walz (D-MN) re-introduced the National Forest Service Trail Stewardship Act of 2015 (H.R.845).  The bill would direct the Forest Service to take several actions to help address the current trail maintenance backlog that is adversely impacting all trail users on many national forests, including equestrians.  The bill was first introduced during the last Congress.  The American Horse Council, Backcountry Horsemen of America, and the Wilderness Society were significantly involved in the creation of this bill. A June 2013, study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Forest Service has deferred trail maintenance needs that exceed half-billion dollars, and only one-quarter of the agency’s 158,000 miles of trails meets agency standards for maintenance. This maintenance backlog is causing access and safety issues for equestrians and all trail users on national forests. The National Forest Service Trail Stewardship Act would direct the Forest Service to develop a strategy to more effectively utilize volunteers and partners to assist in maintaining national forest trails.  It will also provide outfitters and guides the ability to perform trail maintenance activities in lieu of permit fees.  Additionally, the bill would address a liability issue that has discouraged some national forests from utilizing volunteers and partner organizations to help perform trail maintenance and would direct the Forest Service to identify and prioritize specific areas with the greatest need for trail maintenance in the national forest system.

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