Backcountry by Horse
Back Country Horsemen celebrate livestock and trails

Members of the Backcountry Horsemen enjoy a ride on the Hermosa Creek Trail in observance of National Trials Day, which was June 4. The gathering also included a lunch and speeches from representatives of various user groups, pledging to work together./Photo by David Halterman

by Jeff Mannix

Horsemen recently celebrated their place on San Juan Public Lands. The Four Corners Back Country Horsemen hosted a National Trails Day celebration at the Lower Hermosa Trailhead campground and corrals on June 5. Representatives of U.S. Senators Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar joined Forest Service and BLM managers and members of Four Corners Back Country Horsemen for a morning horseback ride, a deluxe camp luncheon, and some lighthearted bragging about stewardship of myriad trails, campsites and cooperation among user groups.

The get-together came together without a hitch, and the attention to detail covered everything from rows of cast iron Dutch ovens, numerous wood-fueled fire pits grilling meats, clips to hold down checkered tablecloths, a spread of homemade appetizers, and a sheet cake emblazoned with the club’s logo. A platoon of volunteers tended the food, the horses, the VIPs and the ingenuous “speechifying,” as club president and retired local Forest Service legend Biff Stransky termed it.

For the past 16 years, National Trails Day, the first Tuesday of June, has been set aside in reverence to the country’s vast public land system, the countless hours of volunteer time spent maintaining trails, and primarily to draw attention to the fervent interest users have in keeping public lands accessible for recreation as federal budgets deteriorate.

“The Hermosa Creek trail system is the most used in the San Juans,” explained Stransky, “and it took 15 years of collaborative effort between the Forest Service and user groups to establish the Lower Hermosa Trailhead, which is one of the few campsites built to accommodate horses and the rigs that get them there.”

Indeed, the trailhead has large-radius turns, corrals, spacious campsites with the basic, necessary accommodations, and leads to 13 trails varying in length from 4 to 19 miles.

“We’ve had a lot of education on both sides – Forest Service and user groups – and you’ll see a lot more of that,” said Stransky, referring to what the elaborate sign at the entrance to the trailhead highlights as “Trail Etiquette.” Causing the least impact to the land is at the top of the sign’s dos-and-don’ts list – and is the first concern of everyone attending the Back Country Horsemen shindig.

“Tread lightly” has become the mantra of the historic users of public lands – hikers, backpackers and stockmen – and the rationale behind the catchy phrase should be easy to understand but sometimes isn’t. “In the woods, there is social impact and environmental impact,” says Ann Bond, Forest Service spokeswoman, “and if everyone would think of that, it would make the experience and the land better.”

Bond then related the concerns public land managers and historic users of the forest have about the explosion of recreational users of public lands over the past two decades. “If everybody would first take responsibility for their impact, it would all work out,” she concluded.

User groups include the stockmen who have used Forest Service and BLM lands to graze livestock since the early 1800s as well as the hunters, trappers and goldminers who followed close behind. Then, as rural areas became more populated, day hikers, weekend campers and backpack trekkers showed up. New users include bicycle and motorized vehicle enthusiasts.

However, according to the Back Country Horsemen, hikers and stockmen are different from these newer uses in that their use involves no mechanism. “When you get out into the woods on horseback,” noted Stransky. “You relax and talk about the beauty and the wildness of your surroundings. You tune in to a world where you are only a small player among uncountable sounds and sights around you.”

The San Juan Trailriders, an off-highway vehicle group, are among the various organized user groups in the San Juan National Forest Columbine District, which encompasses the Hermosa Creek trail system. That group’s numbers have been increasing at what most of the other forest recreationists call alarming rates – 89,000 were registered in 2004, up from 12,000 in 1990.

However, according to the group’s director, Don Short, there is strength in such numbers. “We have adopted the Hermosa Creek Trail,” he said. “We’re the first group to go through the system after winter, sawing and clearing deadfall, providing access for trail-maintenance workers. We’re volunteers who are trained in the operation of chain saws, and we’re able to go out there and get around quickly.”

Furthermore, he pointed out, the group helps with trail maintenance and also helped secure funds for the $82,000 signage project on the Hermosa Trail System. According to Dale Hoover, past president of Trailriders, OHVers in Colorado contribute $2 million annually to trail planning, management, repair and construction projects, which are funded through the OHV registration program. “No other user group is as financially self-sustaining,” he said.

While grateful for volunteer hours and financial support, the overarching public sentiment, however, is critical of OHV use as destructive, disrespectful of boundaries and damaging to air quality and serenity. The Forest Service has stated that OHV use on public lands is one of the top four management problems it faces, along with invasive non-native plants, urban encroachment and overgrown forests presenting fire risks.

In response, Hoover countered that every recreational user group contains individuals who create resource damage. “Personal experience shows that nearly every popular trail on the San Juan Public Lands – wilderness, motorized or other – suffers from over use and lack of maintenance,” he said. “Every area of the San Juan National Forest suffers from poor signage, inconsistent communication of travel management, and outdated recreation management, which leads to lack of control in the field, and the degradation of individual expectations.”

Multiple use of public lands will continue as the established practice, as most agree it should, despite an up-and-coming interest group calling for no human encroachment whatsoever. Nevertheless, user groups on public lands are hopeful that everyone will get along with more education and increased enforcement of ever-expanding rules and regulations. That at least was the purpose and tone of Four Corners Back Country Horsemen at their National Trails Day celebration at Lower Hermosa Trailhead.

But as everyone was enjoying the company and the sounds of the forest, a dirt bike headed for a trail emerged from one of the campsites and all conversation stopped until the decibel level dropped below speaking decibels. Eyes rolled, shoulders shrugged and the sound of the breeze rustling the towering trees once again brought attention back to celebrating the majesty of the forest. •