Leon Berggren – BCHI Member – Emmett Chapter

30. December 2023 · Comments Off on Leon Berggren – BCHI Member – Emmett Chapter · Categories: Around The Campfire, BCHI /BCHA


Sweet, Idaho/Price, Utah – Leon E. Berggren, 80, passed away on Christmas Day 2023 in Boise, Idaho. Dad is finally free!  Leon was born on February 8, 1943, to Alta Marie and Carl S. Berggren of Imperial Nebraska, he was the second child of three children.

Leon moved around a lot with his family before graduating from Socorro High School. There, he met the love of his life Margaret Scott. They were married on February 2, 1964. Leon went on to New Mexico State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Wild Life Management.

In 1966, Leon and Margaret welcomed a son Scotty, and in 1970, they welcomed another son, Eric. Leon enjoyed spending time with his sons, hunting, fishing, camping, boating, running rivers, and bucking hay, just
to name a few. He was an avid outdoors man.

Leon’s job took him to many states, working in New Mexico, California, Utah, and retiring in Idaho in 1999. Leon loved retirement having cattle of his own in Sweet, Idaho. Leon enjoyed working his cattle with Margaret by his side. There, he had many happy memories with his children and grandchildren, who he loved with his whole heart.

Leon will always be remembered as a BLM man, firefighter, husband, dad, grandpa, papa, and great grandpa. Leon will be dearly missed by his family and many friends.

He is survived by his wife Margaret, son Scott, and wife Stacy, son Eric, and wife Ralynn. Five grandchildren, Carl Russell, Brian (Aspyn) Berggren, Tiffanie Perkins, Cassie (Brady) Moore and Taylor Berggren. Four great grandchildren, Jackson, Gentry, Leah, and Carl Judson. Other surviving relatives include sister Anita Little, and husband Jack, nieces Arlene and Janice along with their families, cousin Walt, and many more cousins.  Preceeded in death by his parents Carl S. and Alta Berggren, brother Carl Thomas, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Per Leon’s wishes, cremation has taken place by Bowman Funeral Parlor, Garden city. A memorial service/celebration of life will take place at a later date this spring in Sweet, Idaho, with an interment at the Sweet Idaho Cemetery.

Leon & Margaret Berggren
PO 126
Sweet, ID 83670

Margaret, Lorraine & Chick at Wilson Creek

If you want to keep using public land, you better conserve it

25. December 2023 · Comments Off on If you want to keep using public land, you better conserve it · Categories: Around The Campfire, Public Lands


Those who lament they never have enough places to drill and scrape have a narrative about the huggers that love trees more than people. They can get vicious with their accusations. A local publisher castigated me for depriving our children of education dollars and the hospital of revenue because I legally opposed an exemption for a Williams project on a Bureau of Land Management Area of Critical Environmental Concern west of Rawlins.

The concept of stewardship using the best available technology has been rejected time and again. If those principles had been adopted, we would not be facing the choices we are now.

Our governor recently spoke against rules limiting methane releases, even though the producers in our state have egregiously spewed it into our atmosphere for years.

When the Atlantic Rim coal-bed methane area was developed, Yellowstone-like mud pots bubbled throughout the riparian areas there. But, that was only a small stream of the methane that sniffer technology found gushing into the atmosphere there. In fact, some joked that there could be a geyser of fire if a match was struck. Ironically, those seeps had been happening for years, and yet developers and regulators ignored the fractured geology of the area as they maximized drilling. READ MORE

The Sawtooth Society – Your Mountains are Calling!

25. December 2023 · Comments Off on The Sawtooth Society – Your Mountains are Calling! · Categories: Public Lands


LINK TO WEBSITE

Education – Wilderness First Aid

22. December 2023 · Comments Off on Education – Wilderness First Aid · Categories: Education

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If you’re headed outdoors, you should always carry either a prepackaged first-aid kit or a DIY kit that you can create using our list as a guide. Knowing how to use the items in a first-aid kit is as important as having them, so consider taking a training course.

This list is a good starting point. It also includes emergency essentials that you might carry separately from a kit. You’ll also need to include any prescription medications your group needs, as well as additional supplies you might need for where you’re going and how long you will be out.

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Volunteer work on the Idaho Centennial Trail 2023

15. December 2023 · Comments Off on Volunteer work on the Idaho Centennial Trail 2023 · Categories: Around The Campfire, Public Lands, Trail Volunteer Groups

2023-Project-Report-ICT READ FULL REPORT:  2023-Project-Report-ICT

HEAR BROADCAST

Education – CPR can be lifesaving for some and futile for others.

12. December 2023 · Comments Off on Education – CPR can be lifesaving for some and futile for others. · Categories: Education


Recently, I wrote about the dark side of CPR. Despite a common misperception that CPR can rescue almost anyone from the brink of death, most people that receive it don’t survive. Of those that do, many sustain devastating neurological injury and may never wake up. CPR often causes additional injuries that can add pain and indignity to the final moments of life, and can sometimes be traumatizing to the healthcare providers that deliver it.

I heard from many nurses, doctors, EMTs, and paramedics who were grateful that I had brought attention to the difficult reality that CPR may often cause more harm than good.

But I also heard from people who owed their lives to CPR. Nick Sakes, an avid cyclist from Minneapolis, was 58 when he collapsed on a ride at a busy intersection. A nurse in a nearby car saw him go down. He didn’t have a pulse, and she performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Using a defibrillator, they found that he was in an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation, a common cause of cardiac arrest that is often responsive to electric shocks.

For many, a ‘natural death’ may be preferable to enduring CPR

After three shocks, Sakes’ heart reverted to a normal rhythm. He had a pulse again. He regained consciousness the next day, and was startled to find a team of doctors looking down at him. Apart from sore ribs, he suffered no significant injuries from his cardiac arrest, or from his resuscitation. “I haven’t had any problems,” he told me. He still rides his bike just as much as before. “I feel exactly the same,” he said. READ MORE

“Nurse refuses to perform CPR,” read the caption on an ABC newscast in California. “911 dispatcher’s pleas ignored.” Several days earlier, an elderly woman at a senior living facility had gone into cardiac arrest. The dispatcher instructed an employee to perform CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. But the employee refused.

“Is there anybody there that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?” the dispatcher said. It made the local news, which elicited a national outcry and prompted a police investigation. But the woman was already dead — her heart had stopped. And according to family, the woman had wished to “die naturally and without any kind of life-prolonging intervention.”

So why the controversy? It comes down to a widespread misconception of what CPR can, and can’t, do. CPR can sometimes save lives, but it also has a dark side.   READ MORE

Public Lands – BLM Owyhee Birds of Prey NCA South TMP Draft EA

10. December 2023 · Comments Off on Public Lands – BLM Owyhee Birds of Prey NCA South TMP Draft EA · Categories: Around The Campfire

Updated on 02/28/2024  BLM Owyhee Travel Management Update 02-28-2024

BLM Issues Decision for Silver City Travel Management Plan  March 25, 2024

# * #  * # *  # * #

The 3rd of the five Owyhee Travel Management Plan (TMP) draft Environmental Assessments (EAs) is now open for public comment. Area covered is the Morley Nelson Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, South (or just NCA).

The first and second TMP processes resulted in “Alternative D+” Decisions: Canyonlands East; Canyonlands West. Silver City and Grand View areas are expected to enter the draft EA process and be completed by March 2024.

Comments will be accepted for NCA until January 8, 2024, through BLMs web portal (see “Participate now”) at the E-panning page for NCA South.

(Please do not submit comments to any BLM email address, they will tend to go into a black hole– use the Portal linked above.)

Using the BLM NCA South Alternatives map (see special instructions further down) and your knowledge of the ground, form your comments advocating for the most possible access (Alt D), siting route numbers and reasons to support keeping a route open such as looping opportunities. Alt A will not be selected; it is for showing “existing condition” based on the inventory BLM arrived at during previous process in 2016-7 and IDPR and stakeholder feedback.  (Click on routes on the BLM map to get #s.)

Compared to IDPR’s current map for the area, access to several singletrack trails is proposed to be added under Alt D, fewer under Alt C. (Off-designated-route travel has been prohibited since passage of the 2009 OPLM Act.)

The NCA South Travel Plan covers approximately 112,087 acres of BLM-managed lands, the portion of the Birds of Prey NCA south of the Snake River. It analyzes 448 miles of routes inventoried by the BLM pursuant to the 2009 OPLM Act which requires travel management planning to be completed for all BLM ground in Owyhee County. The range of action Alternatives being considered (B, C, D) would designate between 154 miles (Alt B) to 341 miles (Alt D) of motorized routes for public use.

Access would include routes near or across Highway 78 from existing Rabbit Cr and Fossil Cr OHV trailheads, and other routes north of the Canyonlands East and West travel management areas.

Anyone interested in a GeoPDF map of NCA with Alternative D Routes added, please reply with that request. We will work to produce these if requested.

The most motorized access option, Alternative D, proposes the following route mileages per Draft EA page 17:

(Note “Open” = full-width, and there will be no 50″ or under designations.)

BLM NCA web map https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=255cd29a2da448a4b18639af92cbb029

Pull down the Layer List, UNCHECK “Routes – Alternative A” and check “Routes – Alternative D”. Expand by clicking the small arrow to see the Legend symbology colors.

Leaving “D” checked, you can toggle the boxes for “C” or “B” to show the differences between the Alternatives by route type and whether proposed to be Open or Closed.

Which inReach Device is Right for You? – 2024

09. December 2023 · Comments Off on Which inReach Device is Right for You? – 2024 · Categories: Around The Campfire

Which inReach Device is Right for You?

 

Giving the gift of inReach® this holiday season? Planning to invest in a new device for yourself? To help you choose from the growing inReach product line, we’ve put together an overview of our current devices and the best activities to use them for.

 

Take Action – Volunteer Drivers Tax Appreciation Act

09. December 2023 · Comments Off on Take Action – Volunteer Drivers Tax Appreciation Act · Categories: BCHI /BCHA

 

Volunteer Drivers Tax Appreciation Act

BCHA needs your help to promote a bill in Congress that would substantially increase the federal tax deduction for volunteer drivers, from the current (1986) rate of 14 cents per mile, to match the standard business mileage rate recognized by the General Services Administration (currently 65.5 cents/mile).

This is particularly important for those BCHA volunteers who are reimbursed by agencies or partners per mile for use of their vehicles and rigs and who may face a tax liability if the IRS code affecting volunteer drivers is not updated as per the bill language.

Please reach out to your US senators today!

To find contact information for your senators, click here.

BCHA recommends that you call the Washington DC office of both your senators to leave a message with staff regarding this request (or “ask”) of the Senator. When calling, you might choose to use the following script:

1)     “Hello, I’m a resident of (state) and I’d like to leave the Senator a message regarding a bill that’s important to me, Senate Bill 3020.”

2)     “My name is (full name) and I’m a volunteer with Back Country Horsemen of (state).”

3)     “I’m calling to ask the Senator to please cosponsor Senate Bill 3020, the Volunteer Drivers Tax Appreciation Act.”

4)     “I can be reached at (phone number). Thank you.”

That’s it. You might choose your own script and to describe why your senator’s support for this bill is important. That’s up to you.

Sometimes a relatively simply ask such as “Please cosponsor Senate Bill 3020” is all that is needed to get your message across. BCHA would appreciate if you would notify us if, and when, you learn that your senator intends to cosponsor the bill.

Please email michellewade@bcha.org with any such important updates.

Current champions and cosponsors of S.3020 are:

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who introduced the bill.

Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) who are original cosponsors, and

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

If these are your senators, please consider calling in order to thank them for their leadership of S.3020.

Thank you for taking action on behalf of BCHA and its amazing volunteer drivers!

Working to keep trails open requires a marathon mentality and a commitment to the long game.

08. December 2023 · Comments Off on Working to keep trails open requires a marathon mentality and a commitment to the long game. · Categories: Around The Campfire, Public Lands

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*New Legislation*/ Idaho Non-Motorized Trails Initiative Meeting

05. December 2023 · Comments Off on *New Legislation*/ Idaho Non-Motorized Trails Initiative Meeting · Categories: Current Events

Good Afternoon,

I just wanted to reach out on two things.

First a reminder for our monthly meeting. The zoom instructions are below. This is the same link as always as this is a recurring link.

Second is pretty exciting. We have been working hard at exploring other funding source options and we think we found a better way forward. I know I have spoken to many on this and our meeting will cover more in detail.

After some discussions with Parks and Rec, we believe rebranding the State Parks Pass to a Idaho Parks and Trails pass. This would be 100% optional but we would want to spread the word that this would be both a pass for state parks as well as a funding source for trails. I think we can get people to buy this and support the passport who normally wouldn’t.

We are requesting a fee increase for both a funding source for non-motorized trails as well as increased revenue to state parks to increase State Park opportunities in the future. Using the current model we could generate between $1.4M and over $2M as well as increase funding for state parks based on sales. The current proposal is to charge $25 for the annual parks pass. $5 would be for trails with $20 for parks.

I will break this bill down in our meeting for those I haven’t discussed this with, however we are getting a lot of support as we discuss this.

Respectfully,

Dan Waugh

Idaho Horse Board

Idaho Horse Council Trails Chairman

Back Country Horsemen of Idaho Vice Chairman

360-791-1591

Dedicated Funding – Parks Passport

TrailMeister – Xmas Ideas

04. December 2023 · Comments Off on TrailMeister – Xmas Ideas · Categories: Around The Campfire

Link to Trailmeister Store