Sustainability, Stewardship, and Community
Sponsored by Tennessee Valley Authority. This equestrian forum offers an excellent format and opportunity to interact with panel experts and learn more about trending equestrian trails topics today and looking forward to the future.
Presented by:
** This event has passed **
June 24, 2021
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM (Pacific Time) {more time zones}
Cost (RECORDING):
FREE for membersNote:
Closed Captioning is available for this webinar.
Learning Credits are available for this webinar.
This webinar is free. Would you consider a donation to support this webinar?
Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Tennessee Valley Authority this webinar (and learning credits) is free to the public.
This equestrian forum offers an excellent format and opportunity to interact with panel experts and learn more about trending equestrian trails topics today and looking forward to the future.
Sharing current educational information with recreational trail planners, land managers, and trail users can be vitally important to the future success of sharing multi-use trails with equestrians. Learning about new trail technologies and responsible approaches to trail sustainability, stewardship, and inclusive community engagement can help guide us.
This will be a moderated panel with experts from the equestrian community and beyond discussing the following topics:
Holley Groshek:
Holley will focus on providing key educational resources available to support equine access to trails. She will highlight what is available from ELCR and BCHA and Jan Hancock’s Equestrian Guidebook etc. that people can access after the webinar.
Cole Gehler:
Most people like the idea of creating more trails and connections in their community, but not all understand the needs of other user groups. Cole will discuss various approaches to community engagement on a variety of trail planning projects.
Clay Nelson:
Clay will discuss best practices to protect land and water on equestrian trails while also providing a safe, enjoyable riding experience, with a focus on new eco-friendly solutions ideal for use on equestrian trails and trailheads.
Deb Caffin:
Deb will discuss why “Sustainable, Stewardship, and Community” are not just the buzz words of the day but represent the future of trails on public lands. Hear about how the USDA Forest Service’s 10 Year Trail Shared Stewardship Challenge Launch and Learn is setting the foundation for a more sustainable system of trails and how you can help.
Following the presentations, the panelists will respond to questions from webinar participants.
This webinar qualifies as a Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) course (via LA CES).
Equestrian Design Guidebook for Trails, Trailheads, and Campgrounds book:
USDA Forest Service:
Manure:
Holley Groshek, Executive Director, Equine Land Conservation Resource
Lexington, Kentucky
Holley Groshek is the Executive Director of Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR) an award winning educational based national nonprofit organization that works with communities, organizations, and individuals around the country to keep land open and accessible to horses and horse related activities. At the national level, ELCR has become the “go to” organization for land related issues within the equine community. The organization fulfills its mission working in partnership with a network of conservation partners at the national, state and local levels including organizations such as the Land Trust Alliance, United States Equestrian Federation, United States Eventing Association, Masters of Foxhounds Association, American Quarter Horse Association and various state and local equine and conservation related organizations. Ms. Groshek ‘s previous professional experience includes serving as Director of Administration and Equine Relations for the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games and Executive Director of the Kentucky World Trade Center. She holds an MBA with a concentration in marketing and international business and has over thirty years of executive experience in nonprofit management. Ms. Groshek is an avid horsewoman and enjoys riding and training horses in her spare time. Holley grew up in upstate New York and has more than twenty years of experience riding and competing as an amateur rider. Working for ELCR holds a special interest for Holley because she believes that loss of land for equine use is one of the most critical issues facing the equine community. Holley lives in Lexington with her dogs Nika and Gucci, and Peggy May. She enjoys riding and training horses in her free time.
Cole Gehler, Project Manager, MIG, Inc.
Denver, CO
Cole is a highly motivated and experienced trails and recreation planner who has worked in communities across the country responding to various opportunities and challenges. As an avid user of all trail types and with a competitive sports background, Cole’s career path has been shaped over time. Working on system-wide parks, recreation, and trail projects have given him the lens to apply best practices and current trends to all places he works in. In his work, he strives to contribute to efforts that enable recreation opportunities and make places more connected and accessible to everyone through extensive community outreach and evaluations such as, recreation facilities assessments, park and trail GIS analyses, and trail planning and design. As a trails and recreation planner based in Denver, Colorado, Cole has deployed various technical solutions to equip communities with practical solutions that are implementable. Cole has a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, is affiliated with the American Planning Association, and builds trails with the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.
Clay Nelson, Owner, Sustainable Stables
Austin, Texas
Clay Nelson is the owner of the equestrian property planning and design firm Sustainable Stables LLC, based out of Austin, Texas. Clay has consulted on the planning, design and management of 100+ equestrian properties across 20 states and counting ranging from 5-acre private hobby farms to large equestrian parks, many of which include some form of equestrian riding trails. He has authored dozens of articles on sustainable horsekeeping topics in a variety of equestrian magazines, and has been an invited speaker at several national level equestrian events including the annual American Trails conference and the Equine Affaire. Clay has a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Biology, Dartmouth College and a Master of Environmental Management, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University.
Deb Caffin, Trails Program Leader, Southern Region, Atlanta, GA, USDA Forest Service
Atlanta, GA
Debbie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida and her Masters of Science in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management from Clemson University. A native Floridian, she began her career with the State of Florida as a Recreation Planner working first in trails then on the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan.
In 1991 she joined the U.S. Forest Service as Trail Coordinator on the National Forests in Florida in Tallahassee working closely with the Florida Trail Association on the Florida National Scenic Trail. Debbie moved to Atlanta in 1998 and worked for the Washington Office during the development of the corporate trails database. In 1999 she became the first Intelligence Coordinator at the Southern Area Coordination Center (SACC) supporting response efforts to natural disasters. She moved back into recreation in 2001, working as the Regional Wilderness, Wild and Scenic River, Congressionally Designated Areas, non-motorized trails, and dispersed recreation program specialist. In 2011, she became the regional Trails Program Manager, working on both motorized and non-motorized trail issues.
She has previously served the Region as the Acting Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Chattahoochee-Oconee NF and the National Forests in North Carolina, and as the Acting Recreation, Wilderness, Heritage and Volunteer Unit Director.
Debbie’s hobbies include just about anything related to outdoor recreation!
Jan Hancock, Principal, Hancock Resources LLC
Phoenix, Arizona
Jan is the author of two books, the “Equestrian Design Guidebook for Trails, Trailheads, and Campgrounds” published by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center, and the guidebook titled “Horse Trails in Arizona.” She is an equestrian recreational facilities design consultant with her company, Hancock Resources LLC, and is a national speaker at trails and equestrian conferences and webinars. Jan has lived in Phoenix, Arizona over the past 40 years.
Jan has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, and a Master of Arts degree from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.
Jan served on the Arizona Governor’s Growing Smarter Oversight Council and is the equestrian representative on the American Trails Board of Directors. She served a 9-year term on the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board and the Design Review Standards Committee. She was the past president of the Arizona Trail Association, the nonprofit support organization for the 800-mile Arizona National Scenic Trail, a border-to-border route that travels through lands managed by Federal, State, County, and Municipal agencies. Jan is a founder and the executive director of the Maricopa Trail + Park Foundation supporting the 315-mile Maricopa Trail, a loop spur trail system in the nation’s second-largest counties in the nation. Jaa is also a founding member of the Sun Corridor Trail Alliance, supporting the planning and construction of a 1,500-mile urban-centric trail system from Douglas, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada.
As an equestrian facilities and trails consultant, Jan has completed numerous master planning and trail system projects for cities and land management agencies across the United States. She is currently working on equestrian-use trails and trailhead planning for the City of Milton, GA, the City of Big Bear Lake and Big Bear Valley, CA, the Five Winds Ranch in Yucaipa, CA, and the Lake Arrowhead Trail System Master Plan in CA.
The daughter of a veterinarian, Jan has been horseback riding since she was three years old and has been horseback trail riding most of her life. She credits the remarkable saddle horses she has owned over her lifetime with the inspiration and passion for her career as an author and designer of equestrian-use outdoor recreational trails and related facilities.
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