Congress Must Act Now to Preserve the Land and Water Conservation Fund

Westword.com - Full Article

Paul Lopez | August 19, 2018 | 7:31am

For over half a century, Americans have enjoyed a program that contributes approximately $20 billion into protecting land in nearly every county in the U.S., helping to support more than 42,000 state and local park projects including playgrounds, trails and open spaces, and improving access to the great outdoors for all Americans — accomplished with no cost to taxpayers.

It almost sounds too good to be true, and unfortunately, it may not be true much longer unless Congress renews the Land and Water Conservation Fund before it expires on September 30. With it would go this country’s best promise to protect our public outdoor spaces and our cultural heritage...

Read more here:
https://www.westword.com/news/congress-must-preserve-the-land-and-water-conservation-fund-10677075

Hoofin’ It! Exploring: Washington State Parks by Horseback

Yelmonline.com - Full Article

July 26 2018

Does your horse yearn for a walk on the beach or trail?

Come to think of it, do you yearn to ride your horse on the beach or trail?

Most of Washington’s ocean beaches and several Washington state parks allow equestrian activities, including sections of State Parks’ long-distance trails. A handful of park concessionaires also rent horses and mules and offer guided rides.

So, saddle your steed, or book a guided ride and giddy-up!

THE ADVENTURE

Individual parks

♥ Bridle Trails State Park, east of Seattle, gives horses the right of way on 28 miles of trails. Social rides and equestrian events take place throughout the year at the park, allowing visitors and locals to mingle over a shared passion.

Set between Kirkland and Redmond, Bridle Trails is the place for city dwellers with horses.

With three arenas and a full calendar of equestrian events, you won’t have the park to yourself, but these activities, plus festivals and concerts, will keep you and your horse busy...

Read more here:
http://www.yelmonline.com/life/article_5cf40134-90f4-11e8-a8a3-df6145e09d1e.html

Colorado: Valley needs a place for enjoyment of horses

AspenTimes.com - Full Article

August 1 2018
Karin Reid Offield

One of the arguments about the need for the historic Sutey Ranch for horseback riding is the fact that as Tony Vagneur wrote in a column in The Aspen Times not too long ago, that in our old days, when our grandfathers and mothers were young and Tony, too, we could ride from ranch to ranch, mountain to mountain and valley to valley without ever stepping into a horse trailer. For us, due to many reasons, that time is over. We cannot cross a road, we cannot access our trails, and we cannot even ride down along side of the roadways. We have to create areas carved out where we can enjoy our horses.

The mountain bikers are asking for the development of loop trails from Red Hill Bureau of Land Management area by expanding the Red Hill boundary to include the Sutey Ranch, likely allowing for a rideable connection all the way onto County Road 112, just a mile away from the Fisher Creek BLM area on Missouri Heights...

Read more here:
https://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/valley-needs-a-place-for-enjoyment-of-horses/

California: Marin County to appeal ruling on bike access to trail

Marinij.com - Full Article

By Richard Halstead, Marin Independent Journal
POSTED: 07/20/18, 5:13 PM PDT

Marin County will appeal a Marin Superior Court ruling that blocked the opening of a trail to bicyclists in the hills between Corte Madera and Mill Valley.

The Board of Supervisors announced the decision to appeal the decision after exiting a closed session on Tuesday.

The appeal is of an April ruling by Judge Paul Haakenson in favor of Community Venture Partners, a Mill Valley nonprofit, that challenged the county Open Space District’s plan to allow bicyclists on the Bob Middagh Trail — a narrow, single-track trail.

Work to prepare for the transition — widening of the trail from 3 feet to 5 feet, reducing its grade, installing textured rolling dips and armored drainages — was completed last fall. The 3,461-foot trail was scheduled to reopen as a multi-use trail as soon as the winter rains ended. Instead, it has remained closed to bikes...

Read more here:
http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20180720/NEWS/180729963

Horseback riding quartet blazes Olympic Discovery Trail

PTLeader.com - Full Article

Kirk Boxleitner kboxleitner@ptleader.com
Jul 11, 2018

A quartet of equestriennes got together to blaze a trail, so to speak, by riding from Port Townsend to Lake Crescent on the existing Olympic Discovery Trail.

“To my knowledge, we were the first horseback riders to do so,” Port Townsend resident Summer Martell said, after she and three of her girlfriends completed the ride from June 23 to June 27, beating her expected travel time of a week for the ride.

Martell explained she and her fellow local riders wanted to have “a fun adventure, while bringing goodwill” from one end of the Olympic Discovery Trail to the other.

“We wanted to promote and support not only the Olympic Discovery Trail, but all multi-use trails that include equestrians,” Martell said...

Read more here:
http://www.ptleader.com/news/horseback-riding-quartet-blazes-olympic-discovery-trail/article_7bdc3620-8488-11e8-ad9c-eb628f83c931.html

3 Easy Ways to Keep Horse Trails Open

Trailmeister.com - Full Article

July 2 2018
by Robert Eversole

Keeping Your Trails Open

As published in the July, 2018 issue of The Northwest Horse Source

We’re blessed. Our nation’s public lands are one of the America’s greatest achievements. Every year millions of horse owners across the U.S. visit our federal, state and local parks and other open spaces.

And nearly every visit has something in common—trails. Horse owners experience our public lands on trails—whether riding on short paths to scenic overlooks, or taking backcountry wilderness pack trips. Horse trails are such a repetitive theme woven through open lands that they can often be taken for granted. Please don’t.

Have you wondered how you can do more for your trails, even when off the trail? Here are three easy ways to help keep the trails you love open to horse use now and into the future...

Read more here:
https://www.trailmeister.com/3-easy-ways-to-keep-horse-trails-open/

Experience Nevada’s Diversity Riding The American Discovery Trail

Equitrekking.com - Full Article

August 6, 2017

From wildflower meadows and craggy mountain canyons to crisp blue lakes and deep sand dunes, Samantha Szesciorka and her horse cross the state of Nevada on the ADT Equestrian Trail and describe the experience for Equitrekking’s 50 State Trail Riding Project.

by Samantha Szesciorka

Nevada is often presented as one of two extremes: the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip or a bleak desert wasteland... neither of which sound like ideal horseback riding environments! But, nearly 90% of the state is actually public land, and adventurous riders will find an inexhaustible amount of backcountry trails to explore. One of the newest trails spans the width of the state, exposing riders to the hidden beauty of the Silver State.

The American Discovery Trail is the nation's only coast-to-coast non-motorized trail. Built in 1977 for hikers, bikers, and equestrians, the trail runs 6,800 miles through 15 states, including Nevada. Though it is actively used by runners and cyclists, the Nevada portion of the ADT has become precarious for horseback riders, with overgrown brush and dangerous road crossings. In 2013, a safer, alternate ADT equestrian trail debuted. My formerly-wild mustang Sage and I were the first to cross the entirety of the new route. We headed out in May 2013 and reached the other side of the state in June 2013, having ridden the entire distance solo...

Read more here:
http://www.equitrekking.com/articles/entry/experience-nevadas-diversity-riding-the-american-discovery-trail/