Sunday, November 29, 2009

Back Country Horsemen team up with Wilderness Society

Wilderness.org - Full Article

By Andrea Imler on November 12, 2009

Aldo Leopold, co-founder of The Wilderness Society and a preeminent voice in the conservation world defined wilderness as "a continuous stretch of country preserved in its natural state, open to lawful hunting and fishing, big enough to absorb a two week's [horse] pack trip." In his most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, he provided two examples of "primitive skills in pioneering travel..." one of these is canoe travel, and the other is travel by packtrain."

A Horse Rides Through It

The Wilderness Society honors the rich history of horseback riding in wilderness through a new partnership with Back Country Horsemen of America.

The two groups first met in the spring of 2009 when Back Country Horsemen of America approached The Wilderness Society to request their help preserving opportunities to enjoy wilderness riding and packing and interpreting the history and significance of pack and saddle stock for managers and other wilderness advocates.

"A partnership between the Back Country Horsemen of America and The Wilderness Society makes sense, especially in light of how many of our visionary wilderness leaders, like Aldo Leopold, Howard Zahniser and Mardy Murie, saw many of their greatest moments of clarity, insight and inspiration while riding a horse deep into the wild country of America," said Bart Koehler, senior wilderness campaigns director at The Wilderness Society. "These moments gave them a bedrock solid sense of direction and helped them lead the way to securing protections for special wild places thanks to The Wilderness Act."

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