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06/23/09
Back Country Horsemen of America Announces New Officers
By Sarah Wynne Jackson
Back Country Horsemen of America, the nation’s leading organization in advocating our right to ride on public lands, is proud to announce its new officers. Terry Morrison is now BCHA Chairman, Allison Schottenhaml is Vice Chairman, and Yvette Rollins is Treasurer. These individuals are well qualified for the tasks and challenges that lie ahead. They share with all Back Country Horsemen the strong desire to preserve our right to ride in wildernesses and public lands.
Building on the Work of Others
New BCHA Chairman Terry Morrison has been a member of Back Country Horsemen of America since 1994. He is also a member of the High Uinta Chapter of Back Country Horsemen of Utah, a BCHA member organization.
During the last 15 years, he has spent countless hours repairing, maintaining, and creating trails on local, state, and national lands with fellow Back Country Horsemen. He keeps current certification in the use of chainsaws and cross-cut saws. Morrison has also served in many other offices, including BCHA Vice Chairman; Back Country Horsemen of Utah Chairman and Vice Chairman; and High Uinta BCHU Chapter President and Vice President. In rallying for the protection of our right to ride on public lands, he has been a chapter delegate to BCHU and a state representative to the national organization.
Raised on a ranch, Morrison has been involved with horses his entire life. An expert in packing and a Leave No Trace master educator, he often assists folks in packing their equipment and supplies into wilderness lands, such as for U.S. Forest Service projects, bridge construction, campsite surveys, and fighting forest fires. He enjoys camping trips that last for up to a month at a time, leading as many as five pack animals. Although the Uinta portion of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is in his back yard, Morrison strives to ride in as many different public lands in as many different parts of the country as possible.
Morrison brings to his new office 40 years of experience as a small business owner. His company, Ground Zero Flooring, provides services for both residential and commercial applications. He lives with his wife in a small agricultural community. They have two sons (now deceased), two daughters, and seven grandchildren, who often ride with him.
He takes the reins as BCHA Chairman with specific goals in mind. He’ll be working on expansion, not only in the number of members, but also in the states represented by Back Country Horsemen of America member organizations. There are currently 24 states that lack a BCHA organization to represent them. Morrison also wants to develop even stronger working relationships with other trail user groups such as the American Hiking Society, the Wilderness Society, Equestrian Land Conservation Resource, and others.
Put That BCHA Bumper Sticker on Your Vehicle!
New BCHA Vice Chairman Allison Schottenhaml has been a member of Back Country Horsemen of America and Show Me Missouri Back Country Horsemen, a BCHA member organization, for five years. She joined BCHA when she began seeing “No Horses” signs at her favorite trailheads. A bumper sticker advertising a BCHA member organization in her area was all it took for her to become a member. Schottenhaml has been President of SMMBCH for three years.
As Show Me Missouri Back Country Horsemen Public Lands Committee Chair, she worked long and hard on promoting Missouri House Bill 250, which aimed at ensuring that any United States resident is allowed to ride on any Missouri public land that is now or has historically been used for riding. Despite some resistance from other trail user groups, Missouri State Representatives listened to the voice of stock users and voted overwhelmingly to pass Missouri House Bill 250.
Schottenhaml is a Leave No Trace trainer and her husband is a Leave No Trace master educator. Together, they teach Leave No Trace practices and principles to various groups including schools and state park employees. They work as owners and managers of an apartment complex, doing it all from maintenance and improvements to contracts and other paperwork.
Having grown up on a ranch, Schottenhaml has ridden since she was a child, traveling and showing Appaloosas with her parents. Her father, a Native American, took her riding on the Nez Perce National Historic Trail and she spent many summers on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, learning about her heritage.
Schottenhaml lives with her husband in a small town 60 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri, with several horses, a pony, and a mule. They have one son and two grandchildren, aged two years and seven months, both of whom have already been astride an equine. She and her family enjoy a strong local horse community and often ride in a nearby Missouri Department of Conservation area and Mark Twain National Forest.
Joining Forces to Accomplish More
Yvette Rollins is returning for her second year as Back Country Horsemen of America Treasurer. She became a BCHA member five years ago when the Hoosier Horsemen, of which she is a charter member, became a BCHA member organization. The Hoosier Horsemen first formed as a non-profit organization in 1996. Rollins has also been an enthusiastic member of the Indiana Trail Riders Association since 1984. Both organizations are devoted to preserving our right to ride on Indiana’s public lands.
She first heard about BCHA after suffering an unfortunate riding accident while in Cibola National Forest in New Mexico. The trail gave way, and she and her horse slid down the side of the mountain. When she contacted the local ranger, she was told that Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico, a BCHA member organization, would be contacted to fix the trail as soon as possible. The ranger also told her that there wouldn’t be trails for equestrians to use if it weren’t for the hard work and dedication of the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico. Rollins knew that joining forces with a national organization with the respect that BCHA had earned would help Indiana riders preserve more trails in their part of the country.
Committed to saving trails for horse use in her state, Rollins has served as President and Past President of both the Hoosier Back Country Horsemen and the Indiana Trail Riders Association. She is currently in her second term as President of Hoosier BCH and her second term as Vice President of ITRA. She has also been President of the Indiana Horse Council and is now in her third year as Vice President of IHC. Rollins is a Certified Trail Specialist, chainsaw certified and a Tread Lightly! tread trainer. In addition, Rollins has made presentations at the American Trails National Trails Symposium and the Ohio Valley Equestrian Trails Symposium, and has written successful Recreational Trails Program grants, one of which added a 10.5 mile trail in Hoosier National Park.
As a busy administrative secretary, Rollins has worked full-time at Indiana University for 23 years. She also works part-time for Midwest Trail Ride, a large horse camp with scheduled group rides and other services. Rollins is very proud that Midwest Trail Ride was recently featured on Best of America by Horseback, which also showcased the extensive work Hoosier Back Country Horsemen put into the trails and trailheads in Hoosier National Park.
Rollins taught herself to ride as a child but a car accident in 1976 caused severe internal injuries and broke her back. Although she recovered the ability to walk and stayed involved with horses, she didn’t ride again for 14 years. Today, she is able to ride without pain or difficulty and enjoys packing out and camping with her horses. Rollins and her husband live on an 87-acre farm with six horses and a pony. They have three children and nine grandchildren, all of whom enjoy riding.
For further details or information, please contact (931) 359-1574.
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