Who We Are?
Mission Statement
Back Country Horsemen of America is a 501(C) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the following mission.
- To perpetuate the commonsense use and enjoyment of horses in America’s back country and wilderness.
- To work to ensure that public lands remain open to recreational stock use.
- To assist the various government and private agencies in their maintenance and management of said resource.
- To educate, encourage and solicit active participation in the wise use of the back country resource by horsemen and the general public commensurate with our heritage.
- To foster and encourage the formation of new state Back Country Horsemen’s organizations.
Our grassroots members help carry forward our organization’s mission and values throughout the United States and Canada working closely with trail partners and local land management agencies to clear and maintain trails.
In 2022, BCHA members donated over 207,800 volunteer hours from 32 different states with a dollar value of over $12 million. 14,779 stock animals hours (horses and mules) were used with volunteers traveling over 1.2 million miles to locations to do volunteer work.
The total volunteer hours donated over the past 28 years was 6,950,429 with a dollar value of $192,494,393.
What We Do?
We invest in active participation by young leaders in the wise and sustainable use of wilderness and back country resources. We coordinate with conservation corps and youth groups, United States Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management to ensure tomorrow’s leaders have outdoor and wilderness experiences. As youth groups work with us and our partners, they learn about themselves and about stewardship of our most treasured resources. BCHA, its youth partners, and other volunteers leverage funds many times over in delivering projects to clear and maintain trails.
Are you a hiker, biker, or horseback rider who gets out and enjoys trails? We do much of the work that goes unseen to clear and preserve the safety and continued enjoyment of your outdoor experience. Yup, much of our work does involve “horsepower” as well as human power. The majority of our pack trips with horses and mules assist trail crews get food, camping gear, and trail maintenance equipment into areas where four-wheeled vehicles cannot go. We help two-footed trail workers get more done by packing in what they need.
Contacts for BCHA
| Mark Himmel | Chairman | chairman@bcha.org |
| Craig Ferdig | Vice Chairman | vchairman@bcha.org |
| Kathy Young | Treasurer | treasurer@bcha.org |
| Sherry Copeland | Past Chairman | scopeland@msimo.com |
| Randy Rasmussen | Director for Public Lands & Recreation | WildernessAdvisor@bcha.org |
| Michelle Wade | Executive Administrator | michellewade@bcha.org |
| Craig Allen | Executive Committee | ec@bcha.org |
| Jim Allen | Executive Committee | ec@bcha.org |
| Dan Key | Executive Committee | ec@bcha.org |
| Tom Thomas | Executive Committee | ec@bcha.org |
| Greg Schatz | Executive Committee | ec@bcha.org |
| John Chepulis | Volunteer Hours Chairman | Volunteer@bcha.orgscopeland@msimo.com |
| Craig Ferdig | Marketing & Media Chairman | media@bcha.org |
| Craig Allen | Education Chairman | Education@bcha.org |
| Michelle Wade | Member Data Coordinator | memberdata@bcha.org |
| Sherry Copeland | Partnerships Committee | PublicLiaison@bcha.org |
| Brad Pollman | Public Lands Chairman | Publiclands@bcha.org |
| David Beary | Chapter Support Grants Committee | Grants@bcha.org |
| Freddy Dunn | Expansion Chairman | Expansion@bcha.org |
| Marty DeVall | Web Admin | Web@bcha.org |
| Greg Schatz | Youth Chairman | Gregschatzbuilder@gmail.com |
| Deb Schatz | Newsletter Editor | Newsletter@bcha.org |
How to Contact BCH for Help
Please contact your appropriate state representative first, thank you.
Membership:
- Contact Your State Membership Coordinator.
- Not receiving your BCHA newsletter? Contact Michelle Wade, BCHA Membership Data Coordinator, memberdata@bcha.org or call 360-620-2802.
- Have an address change? Please notify your chapter or state organization.
Public Lands/Advocacy:
- Contact Your State Public Lands Coordinator.
- Contact Your Regional Public Lands Coordinator below.
- Southeast – Randy Brown rdbtrails57@gmail.com
- Northeast – Yvette Rollins, hoosierhorsemen@yahoo.com
- Rocky Mountains – Jim Allen, allens@gwtc.net
- Far West – Kathy Young, kyoung1735@gmail.com
- Southwest – Rod Player, rlp1217@yahoo.com
Financial:
- Contact Your State or Chapter Treasurer.
- Kathy Young, BCHA Treasurer, treasurer@bcha.org.
Administrative: (or if you are not sure who to contact)
- Contact Michelle Wade, BCHA Executive Administrator, michellewade@bcha.org or call 360-620-2802
Contact Form
If you are still not sure who to contact for help, we can direct you. Fill out the contact form below, (sent to BCHA Executive Administrator).
Contact By Phone or Mail
Back Country Horsemen of America
PO Box 1182
Columbia Falls, MT. 59912-1182
360-620-2802
Member Benefits – Equisure Insurance
Equisure Insurance through BCHA provides discounted rates ($20 Single or $40 Family), Equine general Liability coverage for up to $1,000,000. and is valid from January 1 through December 31 each year. The time of year you purchase the insurance does not change the renewal date of January 1st.
You must be a member of a BCH chapter to purchase insurance. Download the form and send in your payment. You can enclose a check or provide your credit card information on the form. For questions, open the Equisure FAQ.
Insurance for horse owners, by horse owners. See also https://equineinsurancecenter.com/.
Subscribe To Our Mailing List
To get on our mailing list about current issues and updates please Subscribe to our Email List. You’ll be notified of issues that are of importance to the trail riding community.
Our Value Proposition
National presence on the “Hill” – representatives from the Public Liaison Committee make several trips to Washington, D.C. annually to maintain our visibility with our legislators. (Local contacts with the legislators are also extremely important.)
National Newsletter published quarterly – The newsletter contains information regarding the activities of the National Board of Directors and the committee chairs (Education, Public Liaison, Wilderness, Media Communications) along with news from the Thirty-one states represented in BCHA. This Newsletter is sent to public lands managers, legislators, and other organizations in addition to members.
Public Lands Committee – is in place to advise the state organizations in their dealings with public lands managers to keep the back country open to stock use. There have been, and currently are, several instances where plans have come out to block the stock users for one reason or another from the back country.
Education Committee – responsible for creating a curriculum of information and teaching resources which can be accessed by all members of BCHA for the distribution of standardized knowledge, processes, policies and practices throughout all levels of the organization across the Nation. The Education Committee Curriculum will support three primary thrusts.
- Website member resources: www.bcha.org
- Organization and Administration
- Members (Adult and Youth)
- Public Outreach
- The Education Committee using the Curriculum will be responsible for creating and conducting tailored workshops, webinars, instructional videos, traveling teams etc. to mentor /teach BCHA Officers, Directors, State and Chapter Officers and members.
Our Mission Statement
The purpose of this organization shall be:
- To perpetuate the commonsense use and enjoyment of horses in America’s back country and wilderness.
- To work to ensure that public lands remain open to recreational stock use.
- To assist the various government and private agencies in their maintenance and management of said resource.
- To educate, encourage and solicit active participation in the wise use of the back country resource by horsemen and the general public commensurate with our heritage.
- To foster and encourage the formation of new state Back Country Horsemen’s organizations.
Our Vision
Create Service Organization
It was the original assumption that Back Country Horsemen would be a different type of organization, not the usual special interest one, normally operating as a protest group. It was felt that a service organization, doing work in the back country, would lend credibility to the group when it became involved in criticisms of agency management.
Back Country Horsemen are interested in perpetuating recreational stock use on virtually all public lands.
We try to limit our interests to the stated purpose. Many worthwhile organizations already exist to provide action programs in other fields, so anyone interested in those has adequate opportunities to become active.
Our History
BCHA formation took place in Montana’s Flathead Valley in January of 1973 by Ken Ausk, Dulane Fulton, Dennis Swift, and Roland Cheek. They used their specialized knowledge of stock and the back country to bring about changes and modifications of restrictive stock management by public officials. We began by participating in agency meetings and land use planning and regulations and have become a strong voice for responsible equestrian use and continued access in our back country.
These four men and their supporters never dreamed that they were the initial developers of programs like Tread Lightly and Leave no Trace for stock.
Our Strategic Plan
We believe:
Responsible stewardship of the land means more than just doing good work—it means making the most out of every donation we receive • Common sense use and enjoyment of pack and saddle stock in America’s backcountry and Wilderness areas is part of America’s heritage and legacy • We have a job to ensure public lands remain open to recreational stock use for the benefit of all trail users, which includes our extensive national volunteer efforts to preserve and maintain trails • In our duty to assist the various government and private agencies in their maintenance and management of public lands trails and resources • We have a duty to educate, encourage, and invest in active participation by young leaders in the wise and sustainable use of the backcountry resource • We can fulfill our goals best by building capacity of existing and new Back Country Horsemen’s organizations .
Our Staff
BCHA Chairman, Mark Himmel
Mark has been a long time members and has previously held positions, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Media Director. Mark has over 10 years of BCHA leadership experience. Please welcome Mark as the new Chairman for 2023!
Randy Rasmussen
Randy Rasmussen is BCHA’s Director for Public Lands & Recreation. He succeeded BCHA’s legendary Dennis Dailey of Pinedale, Wyoming, who recruited and endorsed securing Randy as his replacement. Randy began with BCHA in 2012 and shifted to full-time with BCHA in 2014. One of his primary roles is assisting BCHA’s Executive Committee and state organizations to advance initiatives and strengthen … Read More
