THE PIGEON RIVER DEBACLE
For the most part it wasn’t until this past spring that the majority of trail riders learned of the virtual closing of the Pigeon River State Forest to horseback riders as we once knew it. The new land use order signed by Director Humphries on May 8th closed down the 15 remote campsites that were once designated for horse camping, hundreds of trails and two tracks in the vast 118,000 acre forest. They replaced it with 280 dangerous miles of road riding.
The ludicrous claims by the DNR have all been proven as nothing more than a propaganda campaign. They cited user conflict, noxious weeds, and horses driving elk from the Pigeon. They also stated that federal funding was in jeopardy because of unregulated equestrian activity in the PRC according to an official pre-audit report. Through the help of 11 state representatives, 4 state senators and Congressman Dave Camp, we learned that there was not even an official report filed. In a recent magazine article published in the True North magazine, Deputy Director Mindy Koch stated, “The DNR has yet to receive any complaints from the federal officials about conflicting usage”.
What could possibly drive the DNR to such desperate attempts to deprive us of riding “our land”? We learned that a group known as the Michigan Resource Stewards was instrumental in persuading the NRC Commission to implement this order! As a matter of fact, this group met a year ago last March and indicated what must be done! The NRC gave “carte blanche” approval to their suggestions! The stewards are comprised of retired DNR employees, environmentalists with a greenie agenda. A quote from the wife of one of the members given at the May 8th NRC commission meeting stated, “There are few undisturbed areas left in Michigan and request that the PRCSF be kept from the consumers’ use!” The next obvious question is who will be next?
We’ve testified at the NRC meetings, also at the House Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Rep. Sheltrown and now on December 10, a Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing was held, chaired by Senator McManus. Testifying in our behalf were Reps. Tom Casperson, Joel Sheltrown and Kevin Elsenheimer. They told of their experiences of saddling up and riding in the Pigeon on trails that were now banned. They stated they witnessed nothing that the DNR was claiming. They attended a “Cowboy Picnic” this past summer that we hosted. This was very key for our cause. I urge folks to contact their state representatives and senators in this matter. We are calling for reversal of this oppressive land use order. We believe decisions should be based on sound scientific evidence. Special interest groups should not dictate to the masses.
As citizens of this state we deserve better! I believe we need to have a clear singular voice that speaks for all trail riders interests across this state. We have seen too many of our trails virtually disappear. We seem to be losing our rights, one trail, and one state forest at a time. We need a singular voice in the matter. With the virtual closing down of the Pigeon, Black Mountain Forest area, Lapeer Game Reserve, Holly Recreation Area, the Gladwin Game Reserve, Thompson Harbor by Rogers City, Rockport by Alpena, and Negwagon by Lincoln is in the process of being closed. These are only some of the trails that we are currently aware of and I am aware of some trails in other areas being turned into Game Preserves and therefore off-limits to horseback riders. When are we going to rise up and take a stand?
The Michigan Equine industry contributes $805 million dollars annually to our economy excluding the $25 million dollars in direct wages and excluding the large number of workers not employed by the equine industry: trainers, vets, farriers, tack stores etc. There are 80,000 recreational/trail riders in our state. It’s time to take a stand. We have the Michigan Snowmobile Association (MSA) with 20,000 members strong, the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen Alliance (UPSA) with 17,000 members strong, Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) with over 60,000 members, Michigan Equine Partnership (MEP), Michigan Horse Council (MHC), American Quarter Horse Association with over 300,000 members, and thousands of Michigan citizens that are in agreement with our position. They are concerned that their interest in the “Great Outdoors” will be next.
We will actively pursue “Right to Ride” legislation here in Michigan.
We will hold a meeting on February 7 from 2-5pm at the Dow Diamond in Midland to lay the ground work for ”Trail Riders Alliance of Michigan”(TRAM) and start working on setting up a 501. Through this we will be free of intimidation by the DNR to be able to work to educate our legislators to the many problems relating to equine rights in our state.
Please, don’t misunderstand me, we really need to work together with the DNR; but at this point, until things change, it is difficult.
Richard Kleinhardt
Organizer of Trail Riders Alliance of Michigan (TRAM)