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Page 1: BACKCOUNTRY HORSEMAN OF CALIFORNIA · 2011-05-05 · Washington Newsletter 11 Photos of the April Ride 12 BCH-High Sierra Unit May Ride 13 ... Be thinking of an item to donate at
Page 2: BACKCOUNTRY HORSEMAN OF CALIFORNIA · 2011-05-05 · Washington Newsletter 11 Photos of the April Ride 12 BCH-High Sierra Unit May Ride 13 ... Be thinking of an item to donate at

BACKCOUNTRY HORSEMAN OF CALIFORNIA

SEQUOIA UNIT STATE BOARD OFFICERS

Inside This Issue:

BCH Contact Information 2

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 3

January Minutes 4

Classifi eds 5

Horsemen for Hope Trail Ride 7 Special InvitationJan Walker’s Birthday Party 8

Ads and Announcements 9

Washington Newsletter 11

Photos of the April Ride 12

BCH-High Sierra UnitMay Ride 13

Membership Application 14

USFS Snow Survey 15 Upcoming Events 16

President - Jamie Wilson 559-784-7836

[email protected]

State Director - Tom Cole 559-784-1636

Vice President - Jan Walker 559-310-5794

[email protected]

Secretary - Libby Beatty 559-788-0610

[email protected]

Treasurer - Renee Zachary 909-215-8770

[email protected]

Newsletter - Gail Inman 559-539-2260

[email protected]

Education - Sandy Oates 559-784-4912

[email protected]

Membership - Gail Januska 559-781-8505

[email protected]

Service - Peg Wilson 559-310-3176

Public Lands - Steve Ladrigan 559-535-0529

Web Master - Jorene Downs 559-592-6450

[email protected]

Web Master Coordinator - Phil Lomonaco 559-539-3776

[email protected]

Rodeo Board Rep - Steve Ladrigan 559-535-0529

Rodeo Board Rep - Tom Cole 559-784-1636

WILDERNESS RIDERSSEQUOIA UNIT

Bonnie Searcy Bradley milesEmily Miles Paul FrisbyRuthie Heuer Bob Hodgkins

The Sequoia News is the offi cial publication of the Sequoia Unit of the Backcountry Horsemen of California and is published monthly. The Sequoia news is committed to print articles to inform readers of issues concernaing the Sequoia Unit and BCHC/BCHA, humorous stories, ads, cartoons, events and the minutes of the Sequoia Unit meetings. All items for the newsletter must be received by the editor no later than the 15th of each month. Your views, comments or suggestions are solicited. The Sequoia News looks forward to providing members a newsletter that will keep you informed, make you laugh and have a little history of the BACKCOUNTRY.

Change of AddressPlease inform us of any address or phone changes. Contact: Gail Januska 559-781-8508 (Membership)

DisclaimerThe views or opinions expressed and articles appearing in the Sequoia News are those of the persons that submitted items for Sequoia News and may not necessarily be those of the offi cers or members of Sequoia Unit, BCHC or BCHA.

Page 2

President - Dennis Serpa [email protected]

1st Vice President- Sam Burrows [email protected]

2nd Vice President - Carrie Johnen [email protected] - Kaye Bruns [email protected]

Treasurer - Lynn Joiner [email protected]

VP of Public Lands - Bruce DeMott [email protected]

VPCO-VP of Public Lands - Bruce DeMott [email protected] Ruth Gerson [email protected]

VPCO-VP of Education - Dan Horn [email protected] Lisa Deas [email protected]

BCHA Nat’l Director - Michael Murphy [email protected] Ann Lange [email protected]

BCHA Nat’l Alternate Director. - Michael Murphy North Bay

BCHA Alt Nat’l Board Rep - Dan Clifford [email protected]

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President’s Message

Page 3

Howdy Everyone!

We survived another Rodeo. A BIG thanks to all who helped at the booth; we had one busy Satur-day nite! Thank goodness we had so many volunteers.

Our rides are fi nally starting. The Big Spring Ride behind Lake Success is coming up; should be lotsa fun.

Hope to see more of you at the monthly meetings. Only one more in Springville, then the Potluck in June and the summer meetings at the Oates’. We’ve had some great refreshments and speakers at the meetings. Come on out! Dr. J. (Jamie)

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April 13, 2011

BCH Sequoia Unit

General Meeting Minutes

Jamie called the meeting to order at 7:06pm. Bailey led us in the fl ag salute. The EMT program was cancelled tonight due to illness. There were no corrections to the minutes from March, Mike made a motion to accept, Bob 2nd, minutes accepted.

Renee reports a balance of $4076.21 but we have food to purchase for the Rodeo. Usually we can make a profi t of about $1000 on the Rodeo food booth.

Ace contacted Peg with tentative dates for trips. Peg is suggesting to go in on July 2 or 3, and out July 30 or 31, with a resupply trip in on July 16 or 17. Then do another trip in on Aug. 13 or 14, out Sept. 10, 11, with a resupply trip in on Aug. 27 or 28. They have been eradicating non-native Velvet grasses in the back country and use our help transporting equipment, and other stuff in. Please consider helping Peg this year with these trips!

Jan brought a sign up for volunteers at the Rodeo food booth, and ticket passes. Tom reminded us to put the Jr. Rodeo dates on our calendars: June 25-26 and Aug. 20-21. We will also be running the food booth at those Jr. Rodeo dates, plan to come help!

Jamie reported on the state matters presented at Rendezvous. The state motioned to raise dues, but was voted down. They are looking for ways to raise monies. Last year’s Rendezvous cost $5,000 and this year’s probably broke even. Red Bluff is the site for next year’s Rendezvous, a long drive for us, but worth it. The next state board meeting is Oct. 15th at the Holiday Inn (Visalia?)

Sandy and Jan Horn from State are taking us into the future! Sandy brought instructions how each BCH member may enter their volunteer hours on the computer. Hours can be reported for individuals, groups, projects and chapters. Dan Horn put in some graphics that make it fun. We increased our volunteer hours from about 3 million to $4,124,561. WE ROCK! Please receive your own copy of how to upload your hours from Sandy at: [email protected]

The state is asking everybody for emails to be used instead of snail mail for membership renewals. If you have an email and are willing to provide it, it will reduce the state’s costs. Let any offi cer know, thanks! Our total number of members is still too low to retain that 2nd director position, we are looking for a few more active members…

We will provide a family membership for auction at the dinner Sat. for the Giant Sequoia Monument Assoc. Tonight we asked members to provide email addresses for sending out our newsletter with less cost to the unit. We are happy to snail mail your copy!

Phil announced we are advertising in the April 1st Save A Buck, more members to come!

Old Business

The Rendezvous was great fun. The arena was busy with “Ride for Life” fundraisers. The trail trial had some pretty good obstacles, 60+ vendors, Lassen and Trinity USFS booths with trail maps, a successful wine and cheese party, art and dutch oven cooking contests besides packing contests. There is something for everyone. Next year the Rendezvous will be held again in Red Bluff. Be thinking of an item to donate at the Sat. dinner and auction. This year we donated an iron cloth for packing worth about $180. Our April 9th ride up Pothole Road was a huge success. Good food, good horses, good people. A few curious cows attaching on the trail…Thanks Peg for the preparations and for the poker game on the trail. Gus won the pot with a pair of aces!

New Business Don’t forget to send us your email address for sending out the newsletter! Or let us know you enjoy it by snail mail and we’ll keep it coming. Mike offered to try to bend plexiglass to make a box for the horse display. Work crews are needed in the food booth at the Rodeo. The Rodeo parade starts at 2 so get up there about noon. We are to

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April 13, 2011 (Continued from page 4)

BCH Sequoia

General Meeting

have a fl oat for non-riders. White shirts, blue jeans attire asked. The Club Spring Ride will be May 7 behind Success Lake. 10 am signups, but let Peg or someone know ahead for the food count. We’ll BBQ, have dutch oven cooking, another poker ride (?), obstacles, and another tack swap. We may have left over Rodeo deep pit tri-tip… There is a snake issue at this time of year there, watch for snakes. Tom Cole will present trailer safety at the May meeting. He is bringing a trailer and it’s never too late to learn safety! “Fri. night social” 7pm at Vet’s clinic, no horses, call Jan or Peg for information. Sandy and Ruthie put together an 8 minute tape on “Hug a Tree” for the Porterville Fair Farm Days. Mule Days is at the end of May, is anyone going? A question came up about membership at one unit, but participation at another. That’s OK, you are covered, but you must pay $15 for an associate membership in order to receive their newsletter. There was information about ACTHA (Amer. Competitive Trail Horse Assoc.) needing volunteer judges June 4th (our Natl. Trails Day) for a competition behind Success Lake. They’ll need 30 riders; $25 annual fee and $58 fee for the ride. We have very few t-shirts at the Vet’s Clinic: a size small, more x-larges. But if we can get a list of people wanting specifi c sizes we can get a bunch printed.

Our next meeting is May 18th at 7 pm, board meets an hour earlier.

Jay motioned for adjournment 8:02.

Respectfully submitted, Lib Beatty

Thank you Suzanne and Nathan Jensen for the wonderful prune cake!

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Classifi ed and Newsletter Display Ad Rates

Ads to be prepaid. Please send business card or display with check for the duration of the ad. Classifi ed ad rate for business card is $5.00 per month, quarter page, $10.00 per month, half page, $20.00 and whole page is $40.00 per month. One month free with a prepaid 1 year ad subscription. Editor reserves the right to refuse inappropriate ads.

CLASSIFIED ADS

Page 6

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No shirt, No shoes, No problem!(just kidding-you need shoes)

Please bring funny stories, pictures and police reports,

as we look back on the last 4 decades!

There will be live music by Patti Torrey

And light refreshments.

May 21, 2011 at 7 pmAt the Westwood Vet pond

27114 Ave 140

RSVP: Peg 310-3176Jamie 202-7216

Or Jan 310-5794/qhbrat�hotmail.com

BYOB!!!

Come ye all for song and fun!

It’s Jan Walkers Birthday and she ain’t 21.

It rhymes with shorty and also sporty,

Yes you guessed it she’s turning Forty!

This is also a

Celebr

ation of

Renee Zachary’s Birt

hday

And... Renee’s

A Lot more

than forty!

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SAVE THE DATES FOR NEXT YEARS RENDEZVOUS

March 30 - April 1stRed Bluff, CA

We fi gure we had 2000+ folks show up this year. Lynn Joiner is working the fi gures to see if we made any money. Folks seemed to really enjoy themselves. Lots of classes on trail repair, Gentle Use, mule training, packing and kids fun and much more. Ride for Life was going on at the same time and BLM adoption was there too. We'll see if we can combine a few community events at the same time to draw more of the locals again. If you accidentally brought your program home with your Gentle Use points; be sure to mail that to Lynn Joiner, BCHC State Treasurer.

WILDERNESS RIDER PROGRAM The Wilderness Rider of the Year Award was bestowed on Rick Jacobsen! What a great man he is! Rick has been helping Lynn Joiner and Bonny Searcy over at Grey Ranger Station for several years, assisted the High Sierra Unit with the Beginning Packing Course at Cowcamp, did several packing demos over at the coast, helped pack signage in for a BSA Troop and multiple other projects. Never thought such a big guy could blush so well. Rick has a wonderful team of pack animals that are a plea-sure to work with. The total number of volunteer donations for the State Wilderness Riders: $324,763.87. Here are a few of the totals:

Basic hours: over $88 thousand Skilled hours: over $11 thousand Trail Recon: close to $9 thousand LNT Education: over $24 thousand Personal Vehicle mile: 41,379.75 Stock Hauling miles: 13,568.70 Total Stock days of: 1,103

These are pretty good numbers for a cadre of 38 riders able to work this year.

Hello my name is Cindy, my husband Jackand I are new members to Back Country Horsemen. I am attempting to hold a competitive trail ride on the 4th of June this is a national effort on the part of ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Assoc). It is a ride to raise money for the Mustang Heritage Foundation. ACTHA is hoping to have enough rides nationally to get into the Guin-ness World Record Book. We are hoping to hold this ride at Lake Suc-cess Wildlife area. you can go to ACTHA.US and click on World Record Ride for the Mustangs. for more info. The trail will be approx 6 miles long, with 6-8 obstacles. We need volunteers to act as judges for the obstacles. You will be able to go into the ACTHA site and fi nd videos with instructions for judging. If you have the time and are willing to help call or e-mail me at: 559-542-2868 H. or 559 278-7241 c or e-mail me at [email protected] Thanks It should be a fun day provided the Lake doesn't raise to much!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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Contact: Tony Prandini, DRE# 00196421, Prandini Realty

(559) 310-5566

or Mary Ann Short(559) 539-2554

FOR SALE

Custom home on

over 2 1/2 acres, on

Globe Drive, Springville.

3 bedroom, 3 bath, offi ce,

plus huge bonus room over the 3 car garage,

pool, spa

and much more.

2011 Tentative Ace Trip Dates

July 2 - 3 August 13 - 14July 16 - 17 August 27 - 28July 30 - 31 September 10 - 11

If you cah help, Contact Peg Wilson - 559-310-3176

2011 BCH Sequoia Unit Refreshments

Club meeting Date: Refreshment Host:

May 18 Sandy OatesJune 8 POTLUCK at OatesJuly 20 Lib BeattyAug. 17 Crystal ChampionSept. 21 Kerry LadriganOct. 19 Peg WilsonNov. 16 Gail InmanDec. 10 CHRISTMAS PARTY

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Washington NewsletterMay 2011

Federal Budget, FY 2011

By the skin of their teeth, the White House and the Congress agreed on a fi nal federal budget for the last six months of this fi scal year (better late than never). In what could only be described as a Cinderella moment, a deal was struck only minutes before the fi scal coach was about to become a giant pumpkin. If that had happened, there would have been plenty of blame to go around. Federal land agencies received a fi scal haircut as did most federal agencies. BLM received $18 million less than it received in FY 2010 and the Forest Service $6 million less. Also, the Land and Water Conservation Fund received a major cut of $123 million. This large reduction stemmed from concerns that the federal government does not have adequate resources to maintain those lands it already owns so it doesn't make sense to spend more money acquiring additional parcels of land. ARRA agrees with this logic.

Hold it on Wild Lands!

A surprise development coming out of the FY 2011 bargaining sessions was the decision to deny funding for the rest of FY 2011 for the implementation of Secretary Salazar's Wild Lands Initiative.(Read this issue and about other important access issues that may affect your use of public lands. Now on the ARRA Website - http://www.arra-access.com/site/PageServer)

Needed, Fairy Dust for FY2012

Sticking with the Cinderella theme, decision-makers in the Congress and at the White House are going to have to sprinkle a lot of fairy dust around if agreements are to be reached in raising the debt ceiling and passing the federal budget for FY2012. Both of these items are very controversial, especially in light of the mounting federal defi cit. Almost daily, more Republicans and Democrats in the Congress are saying they will not vote for raising the debt ceiling unless further restrictions are placed on federal spending.(Read this issue and about other important access issues that may affect your use of public lands. Now on the ARRA Website - http://www.arra-access.com/site/PageServer)

Forest Service Planning Rule

The May 16th deadline is fast approaching for the submission of comments on the draft Forest Service Planning Rule. Concern over the scope of the proposed draft continues to grow. In fact, sixty-fi ve national organizations, ARRA being one of them, joined together to write the Administration with the request that the comment period be extended for an additional 90 days. (Read the full letter on the ARRA Website - http://www.arra-access.com/site/PageServer)

H.R. 1581, Wilderness and Roadless Release Act of 2011

In last month's newsletter, we mentioned that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, was going to introduce legislation that would authorize the release for multiple use purposes those wilderness study areas and roadless areas that had been determined by federal land agencies to be ineligible for wilderness designation. The release of these lands is a very important step in utilizing our federal lands for the benefi t of all Americans. Rep. McCarthy, along with 22 co-sponsors, introduced the bill, now identifi ed as H.R. 1581, the Wilderness and Roadless Release Act of 2011, on April 15th. ARRA enthusiastically supports this legislation and we hope you will as well. If you haven't already written to your Representative urging support or even co-sponsorship, we encourage you to do so by accessing this link on the ARRA website.

Sincerely,

Larry E. SmithExecutive DirectorAmericans for Responsible Recreational Access

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The April ride along Pothole Road was awesome!Don’t Miss the May Ride, BBQ, and Tack Swap.

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Directions:

From Hwy 198, travel north on RD 196 to Millwood Drive. Turn right and continue to the Elderwood Market. (Approx 10 miles.) Continue on Hwy 245 (Milwood Dr.), go past the Woodlake Rodeo grounds. Continue on Hwy. 245 past Drum Val-ley turn-off approximately 3 miles. The ranch will be on your left. (Follow the signs) PLEASE CLOSE THE GATE AFTER ENTERING.

If taking Ave. 384 from Hwy 99, continue East to the Elderwood Market. Turn left on Hwy 245. Follow the above direc-tions from the Elderwood Market.

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NEW MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

RENEWAL APPLICATION

CHANGE - ( ) PARENT UNIT ( ) ADDRESS/PHONE/EMAIL ( ) MEMBERSHIP TYPE

DCTR (YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER)_____________________ **NEW MEMBERS WILL BE ASSIGNED NUMBER BY MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

MAIL TO: BACKCOUNTRY HORSEMEN

OF CALIFORNIA

Antelope Valley Eastern Sierra High Country High Sierra Kern River Valley Kern Sierra Lake-Mendo Los Padres

Mid Valley Mother Lode North Bay Ohlone Riders Redshank Riders Redwood San Diego San Gorgonio

San Joaquin Sierra Santa Ana River Sequoia Shasta Trinity Sierra Freepackers Sutter Buttes Top of the State

PARENT Unit Affiliation): (Select and CIRCLE ONE Unit as your Primary Unit Affiliation) Donate to BCHC Education Fund?

Tax Deductible Packer $10.00 Mule Skinner $25.00 You’re the Greatest $50.00

MEMBER’S NAME –No Business Names; Please Print Clearly SPOUSE/MEMBER’S NAME –MUST SHARE SAME ADDRESS ADDRESS ( ) CITY STATE ZIP PHONE

EMAIL ADDRESS TOTAL ENCLOSED: $____________ CHECK #____________________ DATE SUBMITTED: ___________________________ BUSINESS NAME – DONATIONS ONLY:

PARENT UNIT MEMBERSHIP TYPES: (CIRCLE ONE) Individual $40.00* Family $50.00* Benefactor $100.00 Patron $250.00 Mt Whitney $500.00

*=BCHC shares portion of dues with Back ountry Horsemen of America

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIPS: AN ADDITIONAL $15.00 PER UNIT IS ADDED TO YOUR PARENT UNIT DUES. ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP UNIT AFFILIATIONS MAY NOT BE FOR THE SAME UNIT AS YOUR PARENT UNIT.

Associate Membership for: ____________________________________________________________________ $15.00/unit (Unit Name (from above list) Associate Membership for: ____________________________________________________________________ $15.00/unit (Unit Name (from above list) Please write additional choices on back

Please clip form along dashed line – KEEP BELOW INFORMATION FOR YOUR RECORDS

PARENT BCHC MEMBERSHIP TYPES Individual, Family (Shared*), Benefactor, Patron, and Mt Whitney. A Parent Membership is affiliated with a single Local Unit. BCHC members may NOT hold more than one active Parent Membership. *A SHARED Membership is for two adults with differing last names, each sharing a common address. ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIPS These special Memberships are only available to persons already holding Parent BCHC Membership. No one may sign up for an Associate Membership without 1) having registered one of the Parent Membership types, and 2) having selected Parent Unit affiliation.

You may sign-up for as many Associate Memberships as you like. Associate Memberships may also be initiated at any time during the

term of your Parent Membership. Associate Memberships must expire concurrently with the Parent

Membership, and are renewable only at the time of renewal of the Parent Membership.

Complete information regarding BCHC Membership is available on the

MEMBERSHIP page at: http://www.bchcalifornia.org

KEEP FOR YOUR RECORDS I SUBMITTED AN Application Form for:

□ Individual Membership $ 40.00

□ Family (Shared) Membership $ 50.00

□ Benefactor Membership $100.00

□ Patron Membership $250.00

□ Mt Whitney Membership $500.00

□ Donation – Packer $10.00

□ Mule Skinner $25.00

□ You’re the Greatest! $50.00

□ Associate Membership $_________ Total Remittance $_________ Check Number ____________ Date Mailed __________________________

Questions: Contact [email protected]

Page 14

559.781.8505

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NEWS RELEASE Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National MonumentKern River Ranger District, 105 Whitney Road, PO Box 9, Kernville, CA. 93238

Date: May 2, 2011 Contact: Cindy Thill, Public Affairs/FireFor Immediate Release (Reformatted to fi t BCH Newsletter) Phone: (760) 376-3781, # 625

Kernville, CA….The U.S. Forest Service has recently completed snow surveys, for the season, on multiple snow courses across the Kern Plateau. These snow surveys target the Kern River drainage. Results for this area also include data from several other surveys. Additional surveys were performed on the Western Divide Ranger District near Tobias and the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. Surveys in the Park are performed by both park personnel and the California Department of Water Resources. Results from the Kern River Basin survey are 195% of average. Statewide surveys show California at 171% of aver-age. Chris Stewart, District Hydrologist heads up the multiple surveys each year. Joining him are Forest Service employ-ees who have added “snow surveyor” to their list of skills. Snow surveyors venture out into the mountains, via snowmo-biles or skis several times a year and at varying elevations to observe changing conditions throughout the season. The work can be hazardous; therefore the surveyors travel in teams and must be trained to handle emergencies. Californians are dependent on snow for many reasons. Snowmelt provides a good portion of water for irrigation, energy generation, recreation, municipal, and industrial uses throughout the state. To make optimum use of the state’s water resources for these needs, advanced planning is essential. Data is collected from the snow pack amongst other water sources each year in order to anticipate the approximate amount of water that will be available. Snow surveying is just one important part of the water information gathering program. A snow sampling tube with a cutter end is driven through the snow pack, measuring depth. By weighing the snow core, the water content (water equivalent) is obtained. This information is fed into a state computer network and, when correlated, enables the State to forecast snow melt runoff in California. Forecasts are updated regularly and snow pack information can be obtained from the following site:http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/bulletin120/ Stewart commented, “This was a great snow year and there will be a signifi cant amount of runoff so please use caution around the river and creeks.” Stewart added, “As of last Thursday there was still seven feet of snow at Sherman Pass.”

2011 Snow Survey Forest Service Fire Engineer, Ryan Lobre.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To fi le a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Offi ce of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Forest Service Completes2010-2011 Snow Surveys

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Sequoia UnitP.O. Box 456Springville, CA 93265

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 18 2011 General Meeting - Springville School Special Presentation to - Tom Cole - Trailer Safety 7:00 PM

May 21 2001 Jan Walker/Renee Zachary’s Birthday Party - Westwood Vet Clinic 7:00 PM

May 25 - 30 2011 Mule Days - Bishop, California

June 3-5 2011 National Trails Day - Work Day Upper Grouse Valley - For Times and Details, call Peg Wilson or Steve Ladrigan TBA

June 8 2011 General Meeting and Potluck Bob and Sandy Oat’s 6:00 PM

June 16 - 19 2011 Immersed in the Wild (Wild Places) Trip to Jerky Meadow Packers Needed - Contact Ann Taomina 539-5263 TBA

June 18 2011 Freeman Creek Ride Tentative Interpretative Ride 10:00 AM

July 2 - 3 2011 Tentative Ace Trip TBA

July 14 - 18 2011 Immersed in the Wild (Wild Places) Trip to Grey Meadow Packers Needed - Contact Ann Taomina 539-5263 TBA

July16 - 17 2011 Tentative Ace Trip TBA

July 30 - 31 2011 Tentative Ace Trip TBA

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