Cooperation Improves Public Trails in Georgia

By Larry Wheat

Introduction

We are blessed in Georgia to have a National Forest and many other areas that support horseback riding.  Georgia has at least 601 miles of official trails on public lands that are open for horseback riding.  Most of these are in the northern half of the state.  I believe that we have more miles of unofficial/social trails than official ones on our public lands.  And there are many miles of trails on private lands, such as large acreages owned by timber companies and other landowners.  All of my presentation is focused on public lands, or in some situations private land managed for hunting recreation by the State of Georgia.

In the short time that I have today, I want to accomplish three things.  I want to:

• Describe some recent cooperative efforts that have provided, or are likely to provide, additional equestrian trail opportunities. 
• Discuss two key challenges that we face today.
• Provide a current list of equestrian trails on public lands within Georgia.

The National Forests contain the greatest amount of official trails open to equestrians within Georgia, so let’s begin with those.

USDA Forest Service/National Forests

Georgia contains the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, managed by six Ranger Districts and one Forest Supervisor.  The current Land and Resource Management Plan, commonly referred to as the “Forest Plan,” was implemented in January 2004.  This plan changed and restricted where mountain bikers and equestrians are allowed to ride within the National Forest.  Riders are restricted to ride only on designated trails or on numbered Forest Service (FS) roads.  A Forest Service announcement states that within the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests there are over 200 miles of designated trails and 1,600 miles of numbered Forest Service roads open to equestrian use.  Actually, there are 262 miles of National Forest designated trails open to equestrians, including the Georgia Pinhoti Trail.

The Forest Service has conducted a ‘trails and recreation analysis’ to determine if some trails should be closed or others developed to best match the recreational use and forest management needs.  The present trail policy for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests is that the current total trail mileage will not be exceeded.  Some trails might be closed and others developed to better meet the distribution and needs of users. 

Over half of the Forest Service trails are in the Armuchee-Cohutta Ranger District (ACRD) in northwest Georgia.  This District is between the large metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Chattanooga, and includes the Cohutta Wilderness Area.  The management team for this District has consistently supported trails for many years.  As stated by Mike Davis, Recreation Technician for the District, they started their Trail Volunteer program in June 1990.  The District typically coordinates and leads 10 Saturday trail workdays each year, including 2 working weekends (Friday and Saturday with camping option).  They average over 300 volunteers a year, and some years as many as 400. 

Mike feels that their TEAM concept has a lot to do with the program success.  He defines TEAM as follows: T=Training, E=Efficient, effective communication, A=Appreciation, and M=Motivation.  The District receives frequent interest and inquiries about their TEAM program.  They have a Team Armuchee for the ridge and valley portion of the District west of I-75, and a Team Cohutta for the Cohutta mountainous portion of the District east of I-75.  Many volunteers support both teams.  Mike and his co-workers are always trying to work new volunteers into the mix.  Fortunately they also have many volunteers who have supported the District trails for 5-15 years now.  These include equestrians, hikers, and mountain bikers.  Mike thinks that says a lot about the cooperative effort fostered by the ACRD management team, and I certainly agree.

The District trail workdays and work crews are organized and led by District personnel.  The District also coordinates and leads a National Trails Day celebration and work event each year.  And they host a Volunteer Appreciation event in the fall each year.  The District arranges training for chainsaw operators and first aid training for sawyers and others.  The District provides tools and safety equipment for volunteer use.  Qualified volunteers frequently remove deadfall and perform other trail maintenance services throughout the year, not just on organized workdays.  All of the volunteer travel and work time is recorded and aids the District budget and resource planning process. 

The Georgia Pinhoti Trail traverses the ACRD and it will be described next.  It offers 68.4 miles of equestrian trails.

GPT and GPTA

The Georgia Pinhoti Trail (GPT) is a 154-mile end-to-end trail running from the Alabama-Georgia state line to the Benton-MacKaye foot trail in the Cohutta Mountains of north central Georgia.  For administrative purposes the trail is described in 18 sections.  Ten sections of this trail are open for shared use by equestrians, mountain bikers, and foot traffic.  Two sections in the Cohutta portion of the National Forest contain about 26 miles of good trail but they are closed to equestrians.  The other six sections are on public roads and are unsuitable for equestrians.  With two exceptions, all of the equestrian sections are on National Forest lands within the Armuchee-Cohutta Ranger District.  The two exceptions are sections on an old railroad bed just south of the National Forest boundary.

The Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association (GPTA) is a non-profit organization devoted to supporting the GPT.  The GPTA is not a user organization, but rather functions with officers and a Board of Directors to guide development of the GPT and encourage users and user groups to support and maintain the trail sections.  The GPTA Directors are selected primarily from hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trail riding organizations, with all three groups represented. 

GPT workdays are arranged by GPTA section leaders or the Director of Trail Operations, and one normally finds volunteers present from all three user groups.  As on so many trails, the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) folks usually outnumber the other groups.  Tools for workdays are provided by the Northwest Georgia chapter of SORBA, and by the Forest Service when needed.  Additionally, GPT section leaders frequently provide deadfall removal duties to keep the trail open.  Our GPT section leaders are FS certified for chainsaw operation.  All volunteer travel and work time on National Forest trails is reported to the Forest Service to support their budget process and keep track of the effort involved.

From an equestrian’s perspective, a few key Pinhoti positive events have occurred in the last few years.  All of these demonstrate a collaborative spirit and contribution.  They are:

• On National Trails Day in June 2004, an alternate route of just 2.7 miles was opened by the Forest Service with GPTA and volunteer effort that has been called the North Route or the Bypass.  This route provided a bypass around a sensitive waterfall area where access was limited to foot travel.  As a result, the Forest Service permitted horse and mountain bike travel on the GPT over John’s Mountain and Horn Mountain for about 12 miles of superb trail.  These sections include that bypass and are now the most popular sections for equestrians.
• In early 2006 a large equestrian parking lot was finished and opened in the Dry Creek region (valley on the west side of John’s Mountain) that provides ample parking with FS road access to the GPT.  Dispersed primitive camping spots exist in the area, all on the National Forest. 
• Over a year ago the ACRD gave permission for GPTA to design and flag a proposed passive multi-use trail system in the Dry Creek region.  The system would link the GPT with the large equestrian parking lot, and would provide well-designed loop trails for a significant recreational destination.  The new trails would replace social trails with well-designed trails to minimize erosion and provide a coherent set of trails suitable for all users.  Because of the ongoing “trail and recreation analysis” it was clearly understood by all parties that the flagged trails may never be approved and the effort was totally volunteer.  Currently about 10 miles of trail have been flagged, and some parts have been walked by key FS personnel.  No approvals have been issued to date for actual trail construction, but we remain hopeful.
• The GPTA Board of Directors changed their Mission Statement within the past year to formally embrace the concept that they advocate safe, environmentally sound multi-use trails shared by hikers, equestrians, and off-road bicyclists.  The Mission Statement also states that the GPT system “enhances user value by connecting to and supporting establishment of local official trails.”  These changes confirm strong, explicit management support for both multi-use and for the proposed Dry Creek trail system.  This was important because the GPTA promised the FS that GPTA would coordinate development and ongoing maintenance of an approved Dry Creek trail system just as they do now for the main GPT.
• In May 2006 the GPTA received a grant from the American Hiking Society to produce brochures for several sections of the GPT, including those sections open to equestrians.  Available brochures by the end of this year will provide useful information about the trail section, including topographic map, parking, water sources, etc.  Detailed trail information is now available on the GPTA website (www.georgiapinhoti.org) and on the Northwest Georgia SORBA website (www.nwgasorba.org). 

One can not say nice things about horse trails in Georgia and the National Forest without crediting the Chattahoochee Trail Horse Association (CTHA). 

CTHA

The CTHA continues to actively support the SETC and various trail activities in Georgia.  CTHA and the local SORBA chapter jointly coordinate and perform the multiuse trail design, development, and maintenance on the Bull Mountain/Jake Mountain/Turner Creek trail system west of Dahlonega.  This system contains about 43 miles of trails and connecting Forest Service roads within the Toccoa Ranger District, plus another 19 miles of open FS roads are available.  It is the largest contiguous equestrian trail system within the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests.  These trails are shared by equestrians, mountain bikers, and foot travel.  This popular trail system provides various loops of travel, two parking areas, and one horse camping area. 

The actual trail work process for this system is different than described above.  While the FS is clearly the responsible land manager, and maintains oversight of the system, the trail work is planned and implemented by two coordinating organizations (subject to FS policies and prior general approval).  CTHA arranges and conducts monthly trail work days.  Likewise, the local SORBA chapter does the same with bicyclists.  Generally the two groups arrange separate work days, but occasionally they work together.  The FS personnel normally are not present during volunteer work days, nor do they provide tools.  CTHA and SORBA each provide tools for volunteer use.

The CTHA and SORBA volunteers completed a well-designed reroute of what is called the lower Connector Trail within the past year.  But perhaps one of the best things one can say about CTHA is that they continue to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to maintaining these trails, and others in the National Forest and State Parks.

As an avid trail rider, and trail supporter, I want to acknowledge the excellent trail service provided by the SORBA chapters in North Georgia. 

SORBA

SORBA has been successful in establishing and holding on to an organizational culture that fosters the fun of trail riding for various levels of riding ability, and also encourages personal effort to develop and maintain trails for their members use.  In general the SORBA chapters strongly endorse the sharing of trails with equestrians, mountain bikers, and pedestrians.  Many of our trail systems flourish because of the cooperation among the land manager, SORBA, hikers, and the equestrian community.  Without the strong presence of the mountain bikers, Georgia would not have as many trails open to equestrians.  We owe them our gratitude and cooperation.

The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park offers an excellent example of trail success based on collaborative effort by park management and volunteers.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) operates the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park located in the heavily populated northern Atlanta suburb of Marietta.  The park receives about 1.4 million visitors per year.  There are over 18 miles of hiking trails within the park, and about 12 miles of those trails are shared by equestrians.  There is one equestrian parking lot near the south end of the park.  Many local residents and visitors enjoy the park trails, and riders always encounter joggers, dog walkers, and others enjoying the great outdoors and civil war historic sites.

In late 2002 the Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club was formed to provide volunteer support towards developing and maintaining the park trails.  The club and park management have a close working relationship and with the declining park budgets the volunteer support is critical to keeping the park trails in good condition.  The club and NPS conduct monthly trail work days.  NPS provides all tools and materials, and the club provides manpower and crew leaders.

Trail flagging and some of the early paperwork have been started for a terrific enhancement to the current trail system.  When approved, about six (6) miles of new trail will be developed along the west side of the park.  This will allow visitors to view many additional civil war earthworks and will provide a complete loop trail around the mountain.  This trail will be shared by equestrians, joggers and other persons on foot.  Park management initiated the idea for the new trail, primarily to allow visitors to view Union Army earthworks.  The present trails tend to emphasize the Confederate Army earthworks.  The trail club volunteers will provide much of the labor to build and maintain the new trail, as they do for the rest of the park trails.  Obtaining final approval may require 18 months due to the extensive review process, but construction should proceed smoothly when approved.  The new trails will be a positive contribution, providing historical merit and offering a welcome recreational benefit.

The next source of trails to describe is the Georgia State Parks that contain 93 miles of equestrian trails.

Georgia State Parks

There are five state parks that have equestrian trails and supporting facilities.  They are: A. H. Stephens, F.D. Roosevelt, Fort Mountain, Hard Labor Creek, and Watson Mill Bridge.  Discussions continue periodically between a group of equestrians who are active in trail support activities and state park representatives.  Recent progress includes:

• Watson Mill Bridge State Park has successfully acquired an additional 100 acres.  The next step is to do all the very important environmental studies to be sure there will be no effect on endangered species or the environment by putting in trails.

• The master plan for the proposed new Chattahoochee Bend State Park in Coweta County currently includes horse trails and horse camping facilities. 

• The possibility of horse facilities is being considered at Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele, GA. This would provide a great South Georgia opportunity and is right off I-75.

Manure on Shared Trails

When preparing this presentation, it was suggested that I address the topic of horse manure on shared trails.  Dr. Cyla Allison discussed several aspects about horse manure in her presentation at SETC 2004 in Atlanta.  I have no scientific facts to offer. 

Instead, I asked the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Superintendent, Mr. Daniel Brown, what was the park experience about horse manure and shared trails.  When you ride a horse on these trails you normally encounter several pedestrians during your ride; i.e., the trails are popular and heavily used by pedestrians.  His reply was “I've spoken with our Chief Ranger Lloyd Morris and with Marion Harris.  We aren't aware of any formal complaints or concerns that pedestrians and equestrians have presented regarding trail sharing within Kennesaw Mountain NBP by pedestrians & equestrians.  Marion indicates that the use of the park trails by equestrians is fairly light compared with pedestrian use, and that may be a contributing factor.  I've personally heard only one verbal complaint from an equestrian regarding joggers/runners being inconsiderate and not slowing or stepping aside when encountering horses.  From personal experience as a hiker, I do know that if given a choice hikers prefer trails that are pedestrian use only, i.e. mountain bikes can create safety and erosion issues, horses can chew up trails, especially when wet, and most hikers prefer not to have to deal with the presence of horse manure and urine on trails.”

Mr. Larry Thomas, Operations Team Leader, Armuchee-Cohutta Ranger District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests offered the following quote about shared trails in their district: "The land base is not growing, the pie is not getting any bigger and there are only so many pieces, so trail enthusiasts must understand that sharing the trail with different users is a necessity.  I believe most of our trail users now both understand and appreciate that reality and as a result conflicts between user groups have been minimized."

I also asked Rick C. Moon, president of the SORBA chapter that works on and rides on many trails, including the Georgia Pinhoti Trail.  His response was “As president of North West Georgia SORBA I will tell you that we are dedicated to the concept of multi-use trails including hikers, bikers, and equestrians.  We appreciate the diversity this brings to the trail community and the extra and unique labor each group brings to building and maintaining trail.  Our main focus is the Georgia Pinhoti Trail.  It offers long point to point or out and back trail experiences.  The horse droppings don't last long enough to be a problem on this trail.  We just like to see people out enjoying the fruits of our volunteer labor with non-motorized recreation.  I have encountered several groups doing overnight horse back rides on the Pinhoti over the years.”

When I asked James Stankowitz, GPTA Director of Trail Operations and an avid biker, he said horse manure on the Pinhoti trail is not an issue, and he would not have even considered it to be a questionable thing if I had not mentioned it.

However, horse manure on trails is a concern to some Cobb County commissioners as they consider what will be an acceptable trail system for equestrians, pedestrians, and bicyclists on a new 1,400-acre passive park to be developed on land the County recently leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The stated plans were to divide the park into three sections, keeping one user category in each section.  Such a plan would severely limit trail distance for bikers and equestrians.  A shared trail system has been proposed to, and at least partially supported by, the county park personnel.  However, final plans have not been determined.

Challenges That We Face

There are many challenges that land managers and volunteers encounter as we strive to provide quality trail experiences for the trail users.  Financial resources are always desired, but I want to address two other challenges.  The first is something volunteers can do right now, and that is to get out and help maintain the existing trails.

So, Challenge #1 is: Get current trail users to help with ongoing trail maintenance, sufficient to keep official trails at acceptable levels of quality.

While there are resource shortages in most aspects of trail programs, a critical concern expressed by various land managers is maintenance.  Enthusiastic volunteers may be willing to build a new trail, but the crunch comes later as trail maintenance needs continue or grow.  Even well-designed trails require maintenance.  Trees fall on forested trails, weeds and brush grow beside the trails, and other maintenance needs do arise on the best of trails.  Unfortunately many of the current trails are poorly designed and are not likely to be replaced in the near future.  Such trails require considerable erosion control and deberming efforts in addition to the other needs.  It is unlikely that there will ever be sufficient money resources for the land managers to provide this maintenance.

Therefore, much of the maintenance may forever depend on volunteers.  At some locations volunteer hours of support have declined over the past several years.  Many of our volunteers are moving into the senior citizen category.  We need to get more youth and younger adults involved in the trail maintenance activities.  So, what can we do now?

• Trail riders can contact a land manager and offer to help on a trail workday.  The contact may be made directly or through a club.
• Each equestrian organization that has any trail interest or trail riding members can assert a positive effort to get members and guests involved in some trail maintenance activity.  Focus on improving existing trails rather than asking for new ones.  One needs to sow the seeds of active cooperation and partnership before expecting to harvest new trails.

The second challenge requires a longer period to accomplish as it involves a culture change. 

So, Challenge #2 is: Change the equestrian culture in Georgia such that most trail riders expect to contribute some time and effort to maintain and support trails.

How do we do this?  SORBA is an excellent organization to emulate.  Mountain bikers and road bicyclists are members of a local chapter.  Each SORBA chapter is affiliated with the regional SORBA, which is affiliated with a national organization.  Part of the SORBA culture and tradition is that members work with land managers to develop and maintain trails.  Many SORBA members, just as many equestrians, fully support the idea of sharing the limited amount of trails with other passive users. 

There are many equestrian clubs in Georgia.  Some club memberships may be local, others may be countywide, and some are broader in their membership base, such as the CTHA.  Most, but not all, of these clubs have some members who are active trail riders.  Unfortunately there are not many Georgia club members who actually do any trail maintenance work on designated, official trails.

So how do we change the equestrian culture?  I suggest the following steps:

• Establish a state-level equestrian trail rider organization that is dedicated to assuring the existence and maintenance of good equestrian and passive multiuse trails throughout Georgia.  The usefulness of this organization depends on active mutual cooperation with local equestrian trail riding organizations throughout the state.
• Each Georgia equestrian organization that has any trail interest or trail riding members forms an active affiliation with this state-level equestrian trail rider organization.
• This state-level trail rider organization maintains an active cooperative working relationship with various land managers who manage or could manage equestrian trails within Georgia.  Trail information and trail work opportunities are shared among the land managers, the state-level trail rider organization, and the local affiliate organizations.
• This state-level trail rider organization and the local affiliate organizations jointly develop and implement positive reinforcement programs to instill an expectation that trail users contribute some time and effort to the establishment and maintenance of equestrian and passive multiuse trails. 

List of Public Equestrian Trails in Georgia

Appendix A is a list of the official trails within Georgia that are open to equestrian riding and that are either on public land or managed by a public agency.  Where appropriate road segments that are used to complete a trail route are included in the listed values.

Appendix A – Public Equestrian Trails in Georgia

This tabulation is my attempt to list all of the official trails within Georgia that are open to equestrian riding and that are either on public land or managed by a public agency.  The National Forest trail mileage exceeds the Forest Service advertised mileage by about 10 miles because the values below are the combination of natural trail and roadway one would ride while the Forest Service quoted mileage does not include the road part (e.g., Sumac Creek is listed as 13 miles and this includes 9 miles of trail and 4 miles of FS road).  The Wildlife Management Area (WMA) data are the least well defined as it is difficult to determine how much mileage is trails and how much is roads.  Many state WMAs and private timber company lands contain extensive roads and paths that are not official public trails but they are used on a regular basis.  The Appendix includes only those WMAs that advertise having trails, even though their trails may be mainly roads.

Georgia Pinhoti Trail (GPT) Equestrian Shared Sections

USDA Forest Service (FS) Equestrian Shared Trails (Other than Georgia Pinhoti Trail)

US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Equestrian Shared Trails

US National Park Service (NPS) Equestrian Shared Trails

Georgia State Parks Equestrian Shared Trails

Local Municipal Equestrian Shared Trails

State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Equestrian Shared Trails