HB 4684 - Immediate action needed!

[dennismurphy]

I have already e-mailed my representative, but just posted on her Facebook page, asking for her stance in a public forum. Maybe something that others are already doing, but seems like a way that has not been mentioned as a way to make them take a stance and explain what they are thinking

That's not a bad idea, tho I fear it may draw some public to support for this bill. People like horsies. People that don't use trails that they ruin and *beep* all over that is...hit the damage aspect hard and maybe theyll see the light! I don't do facebuck or I'd weigh in.

Maybe someone should hijack a horse and ride down all the paved bike/hike paths in the state and defecate all over the place... those runners and casual riders and moms with three-wheel strollers dodging road apples... they might have a small understanding then

[utabintarbo]

Maybe someone should hijack a horse and ride down all the paved bike/hike paths in the state and defecate all over the place... those runners and casual riders and moms with three-wheel strollers dodging road apples... they might have a small understanding then

Horsies ain't so pretty when they're crapping all over YOUR backyard (so to speak), eh?

[Washington Rider]

I offered to take my Rep out to show him the difference between horse trails and bike trails. He is taking me up on it so we will be going out to Maybury sometime in May/June. Do the same with your Reps. First hand knowledge of what a horse trail 'beach' looks like and how tough it is to walk on it will do more than anything we can tell them!

[SteveF]

I offered to take my Rep out to show him the difference between horse trails and bike trails. He is taking me up on it so we will be going out to Maybury sometime in May/June. Do the same with your Reps. First hand knowledge of what a horse trail 'beach' looks like and how tough it is to walk on it will do more than anything we can tell them!

Good idea! The intersection that stands out in my mind is the connector to the D loop on Highland where the horse trails crosses. The bike trail is narrow and hardpack--the horse traile is six feet wide and sugar sand.

[Washington Rider]

Another good spot would be Pontiac where you cross the sand beach but it would take a while to walk in there.

[Critter7r]

UPDATE
Following the committee session on March 20th, we did propose two amendments directly to McMasters that would further dilute the language of the proposed legislation. One of the proposed changes is to revert a definition back to its original form. The parts they added are capitalized, the parts deleted are in red:

"Pack and saddle trailways" means trailways TRAILS and equine access locations that may be used CURRENTLY ARE OR AT ANY TIME PREVIOUSLY WERE DESIGNATED BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR USE by pack and saddle animals.

The other change we proposed is to ensure the DNR has the ability to manage user conflict without a lot of red tape. I have not included the actual language because it is long and very difficult to follow in context.

The "...any time previously ..." bit is going to kill our trails. Every equestiran out there is going to hear that one little bit and yell from their rooftops "WE CAN RIDE AAAAAAANYWHERRRRRRRRRRRRRE!!!!!"

And then it'll take 10 years of DNR intervention to get them off the mtb trails that they've never had access to ever, but they figure that it must have started off as a horse trail at some point, so they can ride there.

[J.knight]

If this passes, I am going to start riding my dirt bikes at Island lake and brighton, just like I did any time previously

[Di_bear]

Another good spot would be Pontiac where you cross the sand beach but it would take a while to walk in there.

That would be awesome if we hold an event at PLRA for our legislators so we can show them that spot compared to the rest of the trail. However, we need someone who has the time and resources to put this together.

[KLydesdale]

Another good spot would be Pontiac where you cross the sand beach but it would take a while to walk in there.

Is this the area you're talking about? It's where the MTB trail crosses the horse trail at about halfway between markers 3 and 4.




If so, I dunno if that's a good area to show to make your case because the MTB trail is pretty tore up in that area too. MTBers keep creating new lines through there as the old ones get eroded and "beachy" so it doesn't look all that great either.

[Di_bear]

There's another spot that I'm thinking of, and it is often quite muddy longer than the rest of the trail. It's shared trail. You are surrounded by tall bushes/trees and it is quite wide. I think the trail turns left and goes a little uphill after that spot.

[Loren]

Nice thing about Maybury is that you can see representative trails right from the paved park roadway. Equestrian, biking, and hiker-only trails cross in multiple places.

[Washington Rider]

Nice thing about Maybury is that you can see representative trails right from the paved park roadway. Equestrian, biking, and hiker-only trails cross in multiple places.

Yep, I plan on using Maybury. I will also invite my Senator Glenn Anderson too. Can't hurt...

[plaindave]

Maybe someone should hijack a horse and ride down all the paved bike/hike paths in the state and defecate all over the place... those runners and casual riders and moms with three-wheel strollers dodging road apples... they might have a small understanding then

Horsies ain't so pretty when they're crapping all over YOUR backyard (so to speak), eh?

Now THAT is how you get action. Maybe shovel out the horse trailer in the parking lot at the trailhead too. You might not close the trail to them, but I bet you get some city ordinances preventing horse trailers from parking in their lots thereby limiting access to the trail.

The other thing to do is build trail features that horses can't navigate in places that would be difficult to go around. Like some "fat skinnies" in really muddy areas. Or bridges with wide spacing between the decking - not a problem for bikes or hikers but *beep* for horses. Or burying log posts on the sides of trail features. The posts would serve to keep horses (or lazy mountain bikers) from widening the trail and going around the feature.

I like to call this being maliciously obedient.

[amadkins]

The other thing to do is build trail features that horses can't navigate in places that would be difficult to go around. Like some "fat skinnies" in really muddy areas. Or bridges with wide spacing between the decking - not a problem for bikes or hikers but for horses.

There were a couple posts in the Pontiac Lake thread about something like this (one of those being mine). My grampa uses some steel piping about 6 inches in diameter spaced sufficiently (usually about 1.5x hoof width) to dissuade his cattle from trying to traverse the series of pipes (usually over a creek or ditch). He does this in lieu of having a gate. I've personally had to help him repair about 6 gates over the years - who knows how many Dad and my uncles had to repair. The pipe solution has never failed and never needed repair in the near three decades I can remember.

Pretty good tech to have handy for trail entries or low lying areas.

[dennismurphy]

Do horses also avoid cattleguards? Maybe all MTB trails can have small versons of these at the entrance to the trails- you can roll across this easily on a bike