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THE INTRODUCTION OF EQUESTRIAN ACTIVITIES INTO NATURAL AREAS

CAN CAUSE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND CREATE SOCIAL CONFLICTS.

 

 

Environmental damage is illustrated in a 2002 report by USGS scientists, titled  “Exotic species invasion and structural damage along horse trails in sensitive natural areas at Ozark National Scenic Riverways,” which found, for example, that horse trails were associated with invasive plants.  Invasives are second only to habitat loss among the reasons for the demise of native species.  Because they are “out of place,” invasives diminish the experiences of environmental students and ecotourists by painting a false landscape.  And their removal ursurps valuable resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

 

To assess the effects of horse trails compared to areas without horse trails, the two-year scientific study counted exotic invasive plants within plots that contained horse trails and within plots that enclosed two types of control landscape: intact areas and old roads.  To obtain a more detailed understanding, trails and controls were each distributed among three different ecological communities (glade, river bottom land, and upland waterways). 

 

With respect to invasive plants, the study found:

 

“Each of the fourteen exotic species we encountered occurred at least once along horse trails, and nine of the fourteen exotic species we encountered occurred only in plots along horse trails.” [Emphasis in original.]

 

“Within every community type, exotic frequency was highest in plots along horse trails.”

 

“Sites with horse trails through them supported a more diverse suite of exotic species, a higher frequency of exotic species, and higher percent cover of exotic species.”

 

The study noted that invasive plants may be introduced directly through seeds in manure, and indirectly because horse hooves disturb soils, and disturbed soils are especially conducive to establishing invasive growth.

 

The study also made physical assessments of the trails compared to control areas, and reported:

 

 “..trail erosion seemed to present a problem along trails in glades, while mud holes were a frequent feature of river bottom trails.”  The mud holes “often covered many square meters.  In some cases, mud holes covered the entire width of the original trail, and horseback riders had cut new paths around these obstacles.”

 

“…structural damage such as cutting and breaking of limbs and shrubs was encountered frequently along horse trails…” to “facilitate the passage of horse and rider.” 

 

“Many of the horse trail plots in upland waterways were, by chance, located in potentially attractive resting spots, such as near stream crossings, where members of groups may wait for other group members to cross and/or refresh their horses.  At these points, trails tended to be much wider than the rest of the trail through the community type."

 

Because the study focused on trails, it did not address the impacts of staging areas for equestrian access, which can be significant because of the forest fragmentation that results from clearing for parking, roads, and trailer manipulation.  For show uses, these impacts increase if deforestation occurs to provide arenas.

 

Social conflict refers to interference between different recreational interests.  In a broad context, such conflicts arise, in part, because population growth outstrips the rate at which land is preserved.  This hampers setting aside land most suited to specific recreational interests.  In the case of Chapman Forest, which was preserved for its biodiversity and historical resources, introduction of equestrian use into the forest would conflict with pedestrians and thus greatly detract from the deep woods experience the Forest provides to hikers, walkers, tourists, and environmental students.

 

Horse use conflicts with the experience of nature along interpretative trails because of several factors.  The threat of oncoming large animals raises anxiety and is distracting when horses pass and walkers must move to the side.  Pedestrians must constantly watch for the presence of excrement instead of watching nature.  And odors from manure and urine detract significantly from experiencing a pristine natural area.  Horse trails tend to be wider than pedestrian trails and so interfere with the sense of closeness to the natural world.  In addition, the greater erosion and mud holes make walking less pleasant and alter the character of the woods.  That character is also debased by introduction of nonnative plants, which diminishes the authenticity of an intact ecology.

 

 

Chapman Forest is not the place for equestrian uses

 

Equestrian trails are available at nearby Myrtle Grove, which is managed with game in mind, and Doncaster State Forest, a forestry demonstration site. By contrast,  Chapman Forest was acquired to preserve an unusually high biodiversity, to protect large unbroken forest (in the top 10-20% of Maryland’s coastal plain forest), and for its historical and cultural significance. This significance includes archeological richness and a colonial tidewater site, Mt. Aventine, ancestral home of the Chapmans, an historically important family with strong ties to the Masons and Washingtons.

 

In the 1950’s, the owner of the Mt. Aventine manor house, Madam Bessenyey, introduced equestrian activities, particularly to the Mt. Aventine vicinity. It is on this basis that some claim that equestrian uses have a historical precedent at Chapman Forest.  However the site is of historical significance not because of events that occurred there during the Eisenhower administration, but because of the colonial presence of the prominent Chapman family (1753), with settlement even earlier (Grymes Ditch, ~1700), and because of a yet earlier Native American presence.  Hence any equestrian presence should be aimed at enhancing the historical context of Mt. Aventine, and not debasing this context with unrelated and distracting activity with its own heavy demands.

 

Equestrian uses of the woodlands themselves is also inconsistent with what is most valuable about Chapman Forest: a large intact Potomac forest with startling biodiversity.  This biodiversity deserves protection in its own right and also deserves husbanding for the passive activities, now and in the future, that rely on natural resources.  Horse trails, for the reasons given above, are detrimental both to the natural assets and also to the greater public’s enjoyment of these particular natural assets. Why would one want to do that?

 

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