Newsletter by email? We will try to send as many newsletters by email as we can. If you don't receive yours by either USPS or internet by April1, please give Lucy a call (865-494-7654). Sorry about the "body bags" for last month's newsletter; ours weren't the only ones that the Post Office sent through the shredder instead of the sorter.
Mailing List Our list will be available in March and October at the meetings. If you can't get to the meeting, I can email it to you if you have MSWorks.

Next meeting will be on the first Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30 pm in Room 118A at the UT Vet School. Our speaker will be Gregg Martin, owner-operator of Martin's stables in Cosby. He has been told by the Park rangers in the Smokies that they are reviewing horse use in the Park and plan to close several trails. Since the closure of trails affects all of us who ride, he wants to explain to us what the issues are from his viewpoint. If there is time at any of the next few meetings, we have some short videos: 7 minutes on "Zimecterin", 12 minutes on "Better Trails thru Run-off Control" or 10 minutes on "Horse trails at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, KY". You get to choose! Joanne will report on the different trail groups she has been working with recently.

Last meeting Carla Hawkinson, Master of the Tennessee Valley Hunt and a new BRTR member, explained to us how a fox hunt works and showed slides and video of the group in action. Since we both need lots of open land for our activities, we need to share ideas on how to preserve trails. She also alerted us to the extreme positions of the animal rights activists and that they could be a real threat to all concerned animal owners.
We heard reports on several trail meetings: Joanne went to OVETS; Marilyn went to Greeneville meeting of trail-users in the northern CNF, and Judy went to the meeting of the volunteer trail maintainers of GSMNP. We heard about the plight of horse riders in Shawnee National Forest in Illinois who are planning to go to court over trail closures; BRTR voted to send them $100 to help in their court fight and got a nice reply from Yvette Rollins. She said that the judge threw out the case as a "frivolous lawsuit" but he explained the hikers' mistakes so carefully that they may well correct them and begin the lawsuit again! Yvette complemented our Club on having a legal fund in place for such emergencies, but said that the check wasn't needed right now (since there were no court costs); save it for the next go-round. Marilyn reported that we have insurance with Equisure for $588.14. We discussed several Service Projects for the year: trail work in Norris (Mar 16), Big South Fork (Apr 20), Anderson Sling Fund raiser (May 18) and Northern Cherokee later in the spring.

Check out our website! www.blueridgetrailriders.com Our co-webmasters, Vicki Wheeler (dwheeler@icx.net) and Bonnie Hibberd (BLBH@aol.com) are planning to have a whole new look for the site by April 1st. Remember that those of you without computers can go to the Public Library to bring up our site using the location as written above (and someone will show you how to do that!).
BRTR Logo stuff: Cindi Zurhellen (865-995-2134) is now the keeper of the T-shirts and bumper stickers.

Last Month's Trail- ride With the forecast of a rainy weekend, Steve and Sherry Landers got to East Fork on Thursday and had two pretty days of riding, Randy and Betsy Knight arrived Friday evening in time to ride a little bit; they also rode late on Saturday after the rain stopped. On Sunday all four braved the cold for a short ride before heading home. Now we know who the tough ones are in this crowd!
Next Month's Trail-ride On the second Saturday, April 13th, we will ride at Harmon Den,NC: ready to ride at 10 am. There is now a Harmon Den Horse Camp if you want to camp for the weekend; there will be some brochures at the next meeting or you can find it on the internet at www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/harmonden.pdf. Directions: From Knoxville take I-40 east toward Asheville. The second exit in NC is Harmon Den; you turn left, go under the interstate, and travel about three miles up a gravel road. The day-use horse trailer parking lot on the left. We will ride up the mountain on gravel roads, dirt logging roads, and single-track trails to the open bald at the top which is called Max Patch; our route will parallel the Appalachian Trail. The views and wildflowers should be spectacular. Front shoes recommended. FMI call before 10:30 pm Friday night: Judy Mitchell (865-475-6475) or Marilyn Spoon (423-587-5924). Show your colors! Please wear any of your BRTR logo clothing so we can get some good pictures for the website.

LOCAL NEWS

Norris Watershed In spite of the early morning thunderstorms, about a dozen people showed up for the cleanup on March16. Four bikers checked in with the group and went off to clear the Cliff Trail of several large windfalls. Joanne found the largest and heaviest debris: a tall concrete figurine designed to hold a birdbath! Several horsemen and bikers plan to put in the culvert on Reservoir Hill Loop Trail on March 23rd.
Haw Ridge: April 6 from 10-2 is the Haw Ridge Shoreline Clean-up time. Last year groups worked from boats and on horseback as well as on foot. Check out the articles on Haw Ridge and the Triathlon in Southeast Equine; thanks to BRTR member Kym Campbell for the enthusiastic write-up and good pictures.
The Triathlon really needs some horse riders to sign up as competitors; Joanne will match you with a runner and biker. It's not a long loop - about 14 miles - and Joanne has some really cool awards for both tortoises and hares! Friends of Haw Ridge have been very supportive of trail cleanup and repair at Norris.
Multi-Use Trail workshop As a result of the OVETS meeting in February there is a plan to offer a four-day course on multi-use trail construction. Sue Neff and Karen Whitehead have attended the mechanized trail course at Clemson to learn some of the options for trail-builders. Hopefully this course will be offered this fall (August/September), most likely in Fentress County- perhaps at East Fork or in the Mt Helens area.

REGIONAL NEWS

The pine beetles are still active in East Tennessee, although they are running out of pines to kill across the Upper Cumberland Plateau. Now the kill is spreading south across Cumberland and Bledsoe Counties and farther east into Union, Hawkins, and Claiborne Counties, as well as into neighboring states: KY, VA, and NC. Many old fields abandoned after World War II or planted for Erosion Control have been especially susceptible to damage because the trees are old and planted close together. The beetles lay eggs under the bark and the hatching grubs kill the trees by eating the living tissue. The beetles often carry a fungus (the "blue-stain" that you commonly see in a recently cut log) that clogs the water tubes in the tree and kills it.
Cherokee National Forest: The trails of the northern district of the CNF are ably represented by the Back Country Horsemen of East Tennessee who are working with the local residents and bike clubs to develop multi-use trails and trailheads throughout the region. Last year, as the East Tennessee Trail Riders Association, they began work on the Little Dark Hollow Trail near Unicoi, which they hope to finish this year; they also conducted a cleanup at Roger's Ridge on March 23. This is only the second Back Country Horsemen group east of the Mississippi and wants to improve riding opportunities for all of east Tennessee from the Smokies to the Virginia line at Damascus. There was a meeting in Greene County in March to encourage the involvement of trail users from that area. BRTR member Karen Clark, the secretary of this group, has helped out on many of our projects; hopefully we can work on some of theirs especially since we have members in her area.
In the southern region, there was a Starr Mountain Open House on March 8 to discuss what facilities were most needed in that area. Joanne attended and suggested construction of short sections of new trail to convert four dead-end trails into two loop trails.
Big South Fork: Recent heavy rains have brought the Big South Fork River 30' over flood stage, running at 50,000 cfs! To combat the pine damage and to help keep roads and trails clear, the Park will get about 18 seasonal workers probably before the end of March. On April 20 BRTR members plan to help clear one trail, Leatherwood Ford Overlook Trail, of danger trees that could make this heavily used trail hazardous.
The word is that the General Management Plan, with its Roads and Trails Plan, will be released this summer; all decisions on which trails to maintain must wait on the conclusion of this plan. In May a separate trails assessment will be begun by the group from Virginia Tech under the direction of Dr.Jeff Marion; this will be similar to the study done a few years ago in the Smokies.
The second Annual Spring Planting Day will take place at the Blevins Farmstead on April 13. Teams of horses or mules are needed as well as horse drawn equipment. Anyone with an interest in Appalachian arts and crafts is invited to participate as a demonstrator or observer. Call Sue Duncan, 423-286-7275.
Remember that Bandy creek telephones have been changed to the 423 area code: Visitor Center:423-286-7275 and the barn:423-286-7433.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park: More hemlock adelgids have been found near the Park; the hope is to contain these outbreaks and protect the Park hemlocks which provide much of the cool shade along the streams.
Federal funding for national parks will increase slightly in the next fiscal year to help reduce the maintenance backlog, but more like a 10% increase is needed to maintain America's most visited park, GSMNP. Senator Fred Thompson is most concerned that the measures to improve air quality will not take effect soon enough to protect severely impacted Parks like the Smokies.
Hopefully we will learn something about the status of horse trails in the Park at our next meeting; it would be good to hear the official view of Park management on this issue.
There will be another Equestrian Trail Maintenance Crew this year; the goal of this group is to maintain the AT sections that are open to horses in good enough shape that they can continue to tolerate horse use. There are two five day sessions: May 31-Jun 4 and Jun 7-11. To learn more, call or email Derek Ibarguen at 828-254-3708 OR dibarguen@atconf.org.

Clinics

Welcome to our new members!

Raymond Lacy, One Sequoyah Gardens, 4243 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. 865-546-0119.
Sharon Straussfogle, 336 Shaver Drive, Talbott, TN 37877. 423-581-1485.
Paul Reeverts, 4 Laurel Place, P.O.Box 1207, Norris, TN 37828. 865-494-6338.preeverts@aol.com.

For sale: 38' Hay Elevator, 3 sections, used but runs well, $100. FMI: Nicole Davitz, 865-251-0150.
Sundowner Sunlite Horse Trailer, 1994 gooseneck, 4 horse slant load, 28' long x 7 ½' high, back saddle rack, tack room with lots of hooks.$12,500. Great condition. $12,500. Call Sarah Brede, 865- 531-1167.
Standardbred gelding, 8 yr old, bay, 15 hh; good school horse for advanced beginner.$950 firm. 865-531-1167.
Home wanted: Sweet dun mare, 20+ yrs., 13.2 hh. Could give occasional pony rides to small child. Lezle Jenkins, 865-988-4928. TWH mare, 18 yrs, bay, 15.2hh; supersafe but slightly arthritic; light use only. Make offer. 865-531-1167.

Dates to remember

FMI on long-distance riding go to: www.endurance.net or www.natrc.org

News? Please send to Lucy Scanlon at address below - or call 865-494-7654 - or E-mail: merrymount@naxs.net
Try to get it to me by the 15th of the month. We accept free horse-related classifieds from members.

Dues: $15 per year. Make checks payable to BRTR or Blue Ridge Trail Riders and send to: BRTR TREASURER, 1165 West Hwy 11E, New Market, TN 37820.