National Plant Board
Trails & Greenways Committee
Minutes for August 13, 2003 Meeting
1) Update on Hot Topics
Kent Island South Trail (KIST) Public Hearing – Barb Thelen
The hearing on August 12th seemed to slightly favor supporters over the opposition. Supporters had more speakers with good logical well thought out presentations. The opposition was passionate about defending what they perceive to be an intrusion on their privacy and property, and plan to carry their protest to Gov. Erlich. If they do, Royce pointed out that horses are the 3rd Largest Industry in the State, and we need to stop allowing the government treat us like 3rd class citizens. A news article indicated that some Queen Anne County commissioners were still undecided. The QA Board of Education, QA Parks and Recs, 4H Club, and Camp Wright all support the trail. Barb will let us know if we need to take further action.
Rescheduling State Greenways speaker Teresa Moore – Peggy Bree
Teresa Moore has broken her leg. Peggy handed out Greenways maps and copies of the Blue Ribbon Coalition magazine to everyone. Some possible future speakers include Fred Shaffer (PG County MNCPPC, and author of the “Guidebook for Creating New Trails), and Diane Huffington (Eastern Shore Sierra Club).
Savage-Gorman Trail in Middle Patuxent Greenway – Peggy Bree
Howard County asked for a map of the trail. Peggy will meet with Parks and Recs to discuss the short term problem and long term plans for the area.
Wet Trails – “The Mountain Biker/Hiker Dilemma” – Peggy
Equestrians and bikers need to cooperate more to share trails successfully. Bikers actively work with local land managers to design trail improvements and organize work days. Unfortunately, not all of the bikers trail improvements can withstand equestrian use, especially when the trails are wet. Recently there have been reports of equestrian damage to the trails we share with bikers at Fair Hill, Rosaryville, and McKeldin. Dave Turner reported via e-mail that the “Guidebook for Creating New Trails” is almost complete. Several equestrians have been active in the process, including Dave, Donna Almond, Mary Angevine, Dorothy Troutman, Rufus Archer, Beth Creamer, Maderia Judkins, and Diane Hickok. Please thank them if you know them.
Legislative Relations: Carol Swandby
Carol was unable to attend, but requested our input on potential locations at the October meeting. Several suggestions were made – The Sheehan/Audubon Sanctuary near St. Michaels, Rosaryville, and Tuckahoe. This discussion was tabled until October.
TEA-21 Legislation: Chris Aist
The House Appropriations committee has deleted TEA-21 funding from the budget for next year. Chris will let us know what action to take after Labor Day. There is an amendment to the SAFE-TEA bill in the house to add language to include “equestrian access” in Federally Funded DOT highway projects. Although equestrians weren’t excluded in the original bill, many state DOT officials excluded equestrian access because they were not mentioned. Chris will locate the amendment number and let us know what’s happing with this bill also.
2) Review Individual Projects - Progress and Calendar Milestones
Trail Database - Barb Thelen
Barb needs your input on local trails
Web Pages & E-mail Lists - Peggy Bree
Peggy is building an e-mail contact tree of Trail Users for issues
Sunday Hunting Subcommittee Meeting - Crystal Kimball
Next meeting is Thursday, August 21, 7:30 at Iron Bridge Hunt Club
Collection of Historical Trail Maps - Jane Toal
Jane will check with TROT to see if they have copies of her old maps
Outreach to Trail Groups - Jacquie Cowan
Jacquie says many are waiting to see if the group is going to last. She will meet with the Volunteer Mounted Bike Patrol in Patapsco next week.
Hoofprints Park – Chris Aist
Chris has established communications with owners of the major parcels in the SouthRiver Greenway. Byrd Donaldson joined us and came to the meeting with plats. Next task is to map the trails.
3) Projects Needing T&G Sponsors
Expo: What do we want to do? - Jacquie Cowan
MHC and MHIB (MD Horse Industry Board) will share a double booth. Bev Raymond indicated they need volunteers to staff the booth. Jacquie will check to see if we can get seminar time in the hall. Possible speakers mentioned are Fred Shaffer, Teresa Moore, Bud and Donna Wills, and Roger Scullin. Doreen asked if there would be a conflict with disseminating legislative information like voting records from the booth. We still need a leader to plan and coordinate our activities at the EXPO.
Fundraiser: Should we build a "T&G War Chest?" - Crystal Kimball
Mary Snyder volunteered to lead our fundraising activities.
Trail Steward Program – establishing communications channels
Doreen Hill will work on defining this program and establishing some general guidelines.
Co-chairs: Who will volunteer to lead? - group discussion
Mary Snyder, Barb Thelen, and Peggy Bree will share responsibility for leading the committee as co-chairs. Royce Herman will continue to serve as our representative on the MHC Executive Committee and lead our meetings. Crystal provided us with official MHC Trails and Greenways Committee stationary for official correspondence.
Trail Bits Column – (discussed after the meeting)
Gail Clark-Brodt offered to coordinate our efforts to publish trail related information in The Equiery. (I apologize for forgetting to put this on the agenda. Gail prepares the monthly newsletter for Tuckahoe, and there will be some synergy between the two projects – Peggy)
4) Meeting Schedule – group discussion
We will hold a meeting, every other month (even numbered months), on the first Wednesday of the month. Our next meetings will be on Oct 1, Dec 3, Feb 4, Apr 7, and Jun 2 at 6:30 pm. Jacquie will host us at Camp Woodlands in Annapolis. In the future we may want to vary the meeting location to give people who can not conveniently travel to Annapolis a chance to attend.
5) Other Business and Topics - group discussion
Doreen Hill wrote an article published in the August 2003 issue of Dressage Magazine. Titled “Fight to Preserve Green Space in Your Area for Horses and Riding.” Her article educates and encourages everyone to get involved in mapping, cleaning up, and restoring passive use trails in their area. Way To Go Doreen!
Upcoming Meetings
Sunday Hunting, Thursday August 21, 7:30 pm, Iron Bridge Hunt Club. Check www.mdhorsecouncil.org web pages for directions.
Trails and Greenways, Wednesday October 1st, 6:30 pm, Camp Woodlands.
E-mail Trails and Greenways at green@riva.net