Trails
Below is an update on the Vermont Trail
Collaborative and work groups. Visit
www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/trails for more information.
Upcoming
meetings:
-- Vermont Trails & Greenways Council quarterly meeting
will focus on the Trail Ethic -- everyone is welcome!, Thursday,
February 10, State House Room 10, 2-4pm
-- Vermont Trail Collaborative, Monday, May 2, Central Vermont Chamber
of Commerce in Berlin, please hold the
whole day
Stewardship and Communication Work Group -- The Trails
and Greenways Council is meeting on Thursday, February 10, 2-4pm in the
State House, room 10. They will discuss moving the Trail Ethic forward
and encouraging user groups to adopt the Trail Ethic with their
membership. Everyone is welcome! If you haven't seen it yet, the final
report from Brian Cotterill on the Trail Ethic is posted on
www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/stewardship .
Next steps: GO TO TRAIL
ETHIC MEETING ON FEB 10! Contact Danny at
director@vtvasa.org for more information.
Landscape Management Work Group -- Meeting notes from the
south zone of the GMNF are being reviewed by participants. The work
group is planning to schedule public information meetings in the
northeastern and northwestern parts of the state in late March. Stay
tuned for details on those meetings.
Next steps: Meeting notes
from the south zone of the GMNF will be posted online at
http://www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/landscape .
Science Panel -- The draft report by the science panel is
posted on
http://www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/science. Bill is revising it to
reflect feedback from Trail Collaborative participants.
Next steps: Please send comments on the report and literature
to Bill at
william.valliere@uvm.edu
Steering Committee: The steering committee has monthly
conference calls and everyone is welcome to join the calls. Please let
me know in advance if you'd like to join so I can send you the call-in
info and make sure we have enough open phone lines. The next call will
be Wednesday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Feel free to get in touch with me to find out more information or share
suggestions.
Enjoy the snow!
Lisa
Trail Maintenance Fund
The Vermont Horse Council
is pleased to offer grant opportunities to Vermont organizations that use,
promote, and maintain equine trails within the state. The program will
assist equine trail organizations the opportunity to maintain and repair
trails with matching grants from the Vermont Horse Council. All Vermont
organizations involved in equine trail. This is a matching grant program
with a maximum award amount of $500.00. To learn more and fill out an
application: Click on
trail grant and
trail grant report files.
Groton State Forest Trails
One of Vermont’s
hidden jewels for the equestrian; Groton State Forest is a 25,000 acre
forest which permits horseback riding on several multi use trails. Most
of the trail systems consist of the Wells River railroad bed, but with the
help of several volunteers and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks
and Recreation work has been underway to complete some trail loops for non
motorized vehicles, hikers and horseback riders.
Contact
jcole@trans-video.net or 802-485-3087 if you are interested in Groton
Forest.
Ride & Drive Program
The Vermont Horse Council riding and driving program began in April of
1992 with Pat Johnson. The program was developed to recognize personal
achievement and not competitive achievement. Actual riding and driving
times are logged for each participating unit, which consists of one person
and one particular horse. You may join with several horses but each one
must be registered separately. You will receive a patch when you join and
as you reach 50,100,150, 200,350,500,750,1000 and 2000 hours you will
receive a matching hour bar. Special awards are given at 500,1000, 1500
and 2000 hours.
Sign Up Form
Large Animal Technical
Rescue
LATR
Registration Form - MAY 21, 2011
LATR
Provides New Resources for Fire Departments in Large Animal Emergencies
by Cindy Cross-Greenia, President, The Vermont Horse Council
LATR stands for Large Animal Technical Rescue. There are many incidences
in which large animals may need rescue such as a horse that has become
mired or stuck in mud, a down or injured animal in hazardous terrain, an
animal who has fallen through ice and is stuck in freezing cold water or
one who has fallen into a well. These are all situations that have
occurred in Vermont and fire departments have received the call.
Cindy Cross-Greenia and The Vermont Horse Council developed the Large
Animal Technical Rescue Project to provide equipment and training to first
responders around Vermont. This equipment and training allows for large
animal emergencies to be handled in a manner that eliminates further
injury to the animal and responder by ensuring that proper tools and
techniques are utilized.
A local LATR team is formed after department members have completed
training and expressed interest in becoming a team for their area. Each
team is provided specialized equipment by the Vermont Horse Council
including a rescue glide, rescue straps, rescue hook, hobbles, blinding
mask, halters, lead ropes, padding, ratchet straps and anything else
needed to secure an animal to the rescue glide. In addition Colchester
Technical Rescue is equipped with all above mentioned equipment as well as
a Becker Sling, the sling is to be used to perform vertical lifts using a
tripod system or appropriate heavy machinery. Colchester Tech will respond
statewide with the sling when needed.
At this time the teams are as follows:
- Grafton Fire Department – Covering Windham County and Southern
Windsor County including the towns of Springfield, Chester and Andover
- South Woodstock Fire Department – Covering
Orange County and Northern Windsor County North of the towns of
Springfield, Chester and Andover
- Orwell Fire Department – covering Addison
County and Northern Rutland County
- Colchester Technical Rescue – covering all
remaining areas of the state at this time.
Trainings and equipment placement will continue with available funding and
grants with a goal of having
a team covering every area of the state with responsibility for two to
three counties.
For more information on training, equipment, or LATR teams please contact:
Cindy Cross-Greenia,
President Vermont Horse Council PO Box 392, Underhill, VT 05489
802/899-323928 or
crossgreenia@gmail.com
There was a horse
rescue this weekend in Colchester in which a mare was spooked and went over an
embankment and into a brook, Colchester Rescue
responded and did a wonderful job of rescuing
this poor horse. It has been two years since
our equipment has been used in a rescue and both
horses were saved, if just one horse is saved in
two years and one owner is saved from that
horrible loss I personally feel that all the the
time and energy and money that is expended is
worth it.
The link below is
to the story as it appeared on the CBS website.
|
|
