Disabled Equestrians Organization
231 Glenwood Ave
Woodside, Calif. 94062
650-851-8343 Voice
650-851-3914 FAX
www.DisabledEquestrians.org
mailto: donp@disabledequestrians.org
November 24, 2000
The proposed Yosemite Valley Plan is in violation of
Federal Law. The proposed restrictions
on the use of horses discriminates against disabled equestrians who use use
horses and mules for access to the trails of Yosemite. We reqest the offending elements of the
Plan to be immediately removed from the Plan.
The
Disabled Equestrians Organization (DEO) represents individuals that are
moderately disabled and use a horse or mule to provide them access to trails in
the outdoors. The causes of their
disabilities are varied, and include accidents, old age and disease. Some of the areas affected are knees,
lungs, hearts, backs and ankles. In
spite of the diversity of aliments, they all share a common solution to their
disabilities: they use a horse or mule to carry their worn out bodies to the
places that millions of Americans enjoy: the beautiful high country of the
Sierras, the rolling hills of the California coast, and many other public parks
and forests.
The
DEO is very concerned about Federal, State and Local agencies that are
restricting, limiting or reducing the use of horses on the public trails they
manage. There appears to be a concerted
effort by some people who seem to think such restrictions are somehow good for
the environment. We disagree with this
conclusion, but the issue we are concerned about is far more important.
The
Americans with Disabilities Act, Public Law 101-336 enacted July 26, 1990 and
the Department of Justice's regulation implementing title II, subtitle A, of
the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all services,
programs, and activities provided to the public by Federal, State and local
governments. A disability as defined by ADA is a “ physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities
of an individual”. To watch the roar of
the falls in Yosemite, see the snow-capped peaks of the high Sierras, listen to
the wind rustling in the aspens, these are truly a major life activity.
The
Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 requires all buildings and facilities built
or renovated with Federal funds be accessible to and usable to physically
disabled persons. This law forms the
foundation of the legal mandate requiring Federally funded facilities and
programs to be accessible to and usable by physically disabled persons.
Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended in 1978 states "No
otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall, solely
by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity
conducted by Federal financial assistance or by an Executive Agency." This Act further broadens the Architectural
Barriers Act in that it requires program accessibility in all services provided
with Federal dollars.
To
deny disabled horsemen the right to use their horse to access the public trails
is a clearly a violation of Federal law and results in discrimination against
disabled equestrians. The Plan proposed
to reduce opportunities for disabled equestrians by eliminating the stables in
the Valley, reducing and eliminating pack and saddle stock facilities, and
reducing and eliminating areas of the forest and Valley where pack and saddle
stock may travel. It is essential that
disabled equestrians have a place to park their trailer to unload their horse,
a place for their horse to spend the night, a place to rent horses if they do
not own them, and the permission to ride on the trails.
We
do not want to see our funds and public funds spend on a lawsuit to enforce our
rights. We would rather work with the
public agencies to improve the trails, raise funds for outdoor programs, expand
horse camps, and raise public awareness.
But if we are denied our rights, a lawsuit will be our only recourse.
Our
objections to the Plan were communicated to the National Park Service in a
letter of June 20, 2000. The authors of
the Plan did not respond to our concerns and ignored our letter. We expect this issue to be resolved before
any action it taken on implementing the Plan.
Please
keep us informed of your progress in revising the Plan to comply with Federal
Law.
Sincerely,
Donald
E. Pugh
President
mailto:
donp@disabledequestrians.org