River fouled by horses

[Gavin]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stor...4D?OpenDocument

Story from the Sept 7th, 2006 St. Louis Post Dispatch

http://www.crosscountrytrailride.com

Origin of the feces

[catman70]

This is a case where there the government is going after the biggest fish in a small pond for headlines, money, etc. I've been to CCTR and seen the steps they've taken to keep horse waste out of the river. Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the fecal levels caused by human waste (James River), particularly in counties that don't have building codes (or septic requirements), but that is beside the point for this arguement.

One aspect of the story that is easily overlooked is that it is unknown if the manure control measures taken by CCTR over the past couple years have helped. Obviously, if CCTR is the main source of the pollution we would have seen decreases in the fecail levels after the new measurements were put into place. They can't tell us whether their study is picking up on new waste or stirred sediment. The story also mentions other trail ride facilities, but doesn't say what they will be forced to do to correct the problem. The "others" may well be hosing their stalls directly into the river, but becasue they're not large enough to make headlines they go unnoticed.

Environmental studies suggest that point-source pollution is much easier to control than nonpoint-source, and, therefore, the best way to handle this problem would be to restrict trail rides to only one or two of the largest outfitters. By doing so it is much easier to monitor and control waste. But that's not the thrust of this story, nor the settlement the authorities seek. I'll end by reiterating what I said at the begining: This is a case where there the government is going after the biggest fish in a small pond for headlines, money, etc.

[Gavin]

Catman, I think your missing the point. I doubt if if really matters what CCTR does to control manure on its own property. The post article says they can accomodate up to 3,000 riders at a time..Thats a lot of horse pucky!

I'm sure that they keep their 75 acre campground clean, but how about telling me what happens to the manure that lands along all of these trails?

http://www.crosscountrytrailride.com/image...nencetrails.pdf

Cheers.

[ColdWaterFshr]

I agree Gavin. 3,000 horses is bit ridiculous.

Catman, its hard to compare the James River with the Jacks Fork, one flows from an urban area and the other is a National Scenic Waterway. We need greater protection on the Jacks Fork. The James needs protection too, but you can't pin its pollution problems as directly to one source as you can with the lower Jacks.

[catman70]

I'd written a rather lengthy reply yesterday which didn't get posted, but too busy today to repeat the process.

I don't know if the article mentioned this but those who ride at CCTR bring in their own horses, and the rides are not guided. People pay to camp, eat and be entertained, but not rent a horse or have a guided trail (I think there is one exception throughout thier season). It is essentially many groups of people who get together to socialize and ride, and they may do the same using public campgrounds or smaller outfitters if CCTR is shut down.

Perhaps this problem needs to be addressed with individuals riding horses along these pristine riverways rather than holding a single outfitter responsible. Police horses and the like have bags behind them that catch the waste - why not a similar system that is up to the rider/owner to comply with?

I guess my whole point is that we can hold CCTR accountable, fine them, and pretend that the problem is fixed while overlooking other (smaller but more numerous) outfitters who can still hose their stalls directly into the river, or we can seriously fix the problem.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Horses are hard on the land, period. Horses hoofs are unnatural to North America, and so is their habit of pulling grass. The bottom line is that when there are too many you will have a heavy runoff, carrying everything with it.

[Mark]

Here's a novel idea - how about not riding horses in the rivers? There are THOUSANDS of acres of land to ride horses on in Missouri without polluting our pristine waterways with horse crap.

[Gavin]

Riding horses in the river is already banned accept at designated crossings, but the problem is the volume of horses. There was a really good article on it in a recent River Hills Traveler. Some of the trail rides down near Eminence attract up to 3000 horses, and each horse produces as much waste as 15 humans...The problem is not associated with local horses, cows, or humans, because the water only contains excess fecal coliform when the trail rides are going on. Cheers.

[steve l]

Hey Gavin - I like the Trout Slayer Ale.

Had picked up a 6 in June out in Yellowstone.

Cheers.

[steve l]

actually it may have been a 12. and almost forgot I had this...