MEMORANDUM To:       AHC Member Organizations From:   American Horse Council http://www.horsecouncil.org/ Re:       Trail Closures and the Right to Ride bill See also Action Request and Sample Letters for Senators and Representatives at http://www.horsecouncil.org/ Date:   July 11, 2005

Over the past few months, the American Horse Council made a concentrated effort to gain co-sponsors for the Right to Ride legislation and to raise general awareness about the bill. Much of the horse community has experienced trail closures or restricted access to federal land and the Right to Ride bill seeks to remedy this problem. Some of these closures are due to local land managers who note that the law does not require them to take into account equestrian activity and its history on federal land. Right to Ride would require that federal land managers must consider this activity as part of the land’s historic usage. When we lobby for the Right to Ride bill, we are always asked for specifics on trails being closed, or threatened to be closed, to pack and saddle stock. We have a list of notable areas that have experienced this trend. We are now compiling the names of as many trail closures and threatened closures as possible so that we can maintain a collection of data. The most useful information would be cases in which trail access has been restricted or seriously threatened to be restricted. We also recognize that in many areas, riders are indirectly denied trail access due to maintenance neglect on the part of the land manager. The collection of this information will better suit us for contacts with Members of Congress, congressional staff, the media, and the equestrian community. Please provide us with the name(s) of trail closures on federal lands and a little background so that we may keep as complete a list as possible. Please indicate each trail as either 1) a closure, 2) a pending or threatened closure or 3) a closure due to land management neglect. Email your comments to Derek Myers at dmyers@horsecouncil.org or call us at (202) 296-4031. Thank you for your participation.

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