Coalition for Recreation Trails
2005 Awards
The
American Horse Council (AHC) recently participated in the Coalition for
Recreational Trails 2005 Awards. Derek
Myers of the AHC was part of the awards selection committee which selected projects
that utilized federal funds from the Recreation Trails Program (RTP).
The
Recreation Trails Program was established in 1991 as part of a federal highway
funding bill in an effort to help fund national and local trail-related projects. The Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT) is
a federation of trail organizations that works together to build awareness of
RTP, and to ensure its adequate funding.
As a member of CRT, the American Horse Council has actively promoted
equestrian use and fought for equestrian rights on federal land.
Among
the nine winning projects of the 2005 CRT awards were the Johnson Camp Trail
and the Cascade Trail. The Johnson Camp
project cleared two miles of deeply-eroded trail in
The
Cascade Trail project greatly improved the
heavily-used Cascade Trail, a multi-use trail located in the Baltimore-Washington
metropolitan area. This trail is
extremely popular with hikers, bikers, and equestrians.
Due to
heavy use, the trail was in very poor condition prior to the renovations, with
several sections extremely eroded, creating hazardous conditions for all users,
and allowing sediment to move into local streams. The erosion was corrected by installing
cribbing and water bars in such a way so as not to interfere with any users,
while alleviating the pressure on local streams. The trail was further improved by the
addition of rock steps and an additional switchback in the more hazardous
sections of the trail.
This
project demonstrates that trail erosion can be solved through conventional
repair, rather than the elimination of user groups.
The
American Horse Council was pleased to be a part of this ceremony, which was
held in the