08. May 2013 · Comments Off on BCHA News · Categories: Around The Campfire, Public Meetings

This News story was on the Local fox news during the convention:

Back Country Horsemen of America welcome Senator John Thune

The Black Hills region can be described as perfect horse country.  It’s the reason many people come here to live.  And many of those people have become a part of an organization working to preserve the Hills as a good place to take a horse. Black Hills Fox Reporter Al Van Zee has the story.

Access to wilderness areas in the U.S. is becoming more and more difficult as more and more back-country roads are closed to motor vehicles, especially in the country’s National Forests. So more and more people, and especially people who have difficulty walking rough terrain, are coming to realize that many wilderness areas are simply inaccessible except on horseback. The Back Country Horsemen of America is made up of many such people. And the group is held it’s national convention in Rapid City this week. One of the stated goals of the organization is to insure that public lands remain open to riding and to help government and private agencies maintain the back country assets.Addressing the convention in Rapid City this afternoon was South Dakota Senator John Thune, who related his own western South Dakota upbringing where horses and horseback riding were a large part of the way of life. The horse culture is tightly encoded in the DNA of the Black Hills. And its history goes all the way back to the first horses brought here by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. And the Back Country Horsemen say they want to make sure the Black Hills area remains horse country.

White Clouds could become a National Monument?CIEDRA – Read the full story

 

Here is the report from the Cate Bradley, National Park Service, from the panel discussion at the International Trails Symposium. I asked the presenters from the National Park Service, the BLM and the USFS to discuss the future of maintenance on America’s trails…as federal funding for trails becomes more and more limited from all federal agencies…and how youth corps, volunteers, and organizations can help fill the gap anticipated for the future.

Forwarding to the National Directors as promised in my Vice Chair report.

Happy Trails, Yvette  Public Funding Stream for Trails and Equestrian Groups

BCHA National Directors:

As some of you may know, Rick McLean resigned yesterday as our Executive Director. In the process of a week of discussions and emails between Rick and myself, Rick felt that the evolving job description of the Executive Director to emphasize fund raising was not what he had signed on for with the BCHA. Priorities change and the momentum needed to grow the BCHA to meet the ever increasing challenges we face require fund raising efforts.

We thank Rick for his tenure with us and wish him well with his family and trail riding time.

Going forward, with the guidance and agreement of our Executive Committee; 1) the Chairman will temporarily assume the duties of the Executive Director position, and; 2) use the monies in that position’s 2013 budget to cover the expenses of the fund raising effort, and; 3) begin a deliberative search to fill the Executive Director position possibly to commence with our 2014 budget. Again, all this in coordination with Executive Committee.

I welcome your comments, suggestions and criticisms,

Jim
Jim McGarvey
Chairman, BCHA
C: 706-669-1015
H:706-629-4196

 

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