Coconino Horsemen's Alliance
The Coconino Horsemen’s Alliance was organized to preserve, protect, and promote the equestrian way of life through alliances, fundraising, and community education targeted towards the residents of Coconino County, Arizona. Coconino Horsemen’s Alliance incorporated as Coconino Horsemen’s Alliance, Inc. exclusively for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes, to raise funds for the maintenance and repair of buildings and facilities owned by Coconino County and for the construction, repair and maintenance of trails owned by the Coconino National Forest, thus lightening the burdens of government in care of facilities for use by the general public and equestrians and horse-lovers in particular.
PAST
The Coconino Horsemen’s Alliance (CHA) was initiated with a public petition circulated in the Flagstaff, Arizona area which stated that the Alliance had been formed to “give a voice to horse owners and rural property owners in Coconino County”. At that time, the first issue of concern was to address proposed changes to policies and fees which were being initiated by the Coconino County Parks and Recreation Department (CCPR) in relation to the equestrian facilities at Fort Tuthill County Park outside of Flagstaff, AZ, where many multi-discipline equestrian events are held each year. Historic Fort Tuthill County Park is a 4ll acre regional park located just south of the Flagstaff City Limits operated by the Coconino County Parks & Recreation Department. This Park is the home of the annual Coconino County Fair and Coconino County Horse Races, as well as the Pine Mountain Amphitheater. It also features a Military Museum, campground, picnic areas, tennis courts and many miles of scenic trails suitable for trail riding, bicycling and hiking. In the warmer months; Fort Tuthill is active with a variety of special events, camping, and picnicking. There is an expansive stabling area, multiple riding arenas, and a cross country jump course located at the park. It was the determination of multiple event holders that the increase in fees and the onerous nature of the language being added to the Fort Tuthill Lessee Event Contract was going to make it prohibitive for many Lessees to continue to hold their equestrian events at Fort Tuthill. The Alliance officers informed the horse community of the times and dates of County meetings open to the public where the proposed fee increases were being reviewed and approved by the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. In response to the public interest generated, the CCPR put a hold on Lessee event fee increases for that horse show season.
Members of the CHA have attended & provided feedback during monthly work sessions and public meetings of the Coconino County Parks & Recreation Commission; which was working with the CCPR staff to develop a 10 year Master Plan for prioritization and funding of capital improvement projects to be undertaken by the Parks & Recreation department. The main goal of the CHA has been to ensure that the significant deferred maintenance of the stables, arenas, and grandstand/racetrack at Fort Tuthill County Park were addressed and received high priority in the final version of the Master Plan approved by the Coconino County Board of Supervisors.
The Alliance was also present at those work sessions of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors where future budgets and the draft of the CCPR Master Plan were being discussed. The CHA’s Vice-President gave a power point presentation at a Public Meeting of the County Board of Supervisors showcasing Arizona Horse Lovers Park, a model horse park in Maricopa County, Arizona. This presentation included statistics on the significant economic impact of horse ownership & horse related activities on the state and local economy for consideration by the Supervisors as they reviewed the enhancement and improvement of the equestrian facilities at Fort Tuthill as a component of the new Master Plan.
The Horsemen’s Alliance has been holding a monthly public meeting on the first Wednesday of every month in conjunction with our sister, social organization the High Country Horse Lovers. Notification of this meeting is sent out to our email distribution list, and is advertised in the local paper’s Weekly Events Calendar. The public is invited to attend this meeting. This meeting is a discussion of news & information effecting equestrians in our County, and provides a forum for voicing concerns affecting horse owners. In October, 2008 and again in January, 2010, an officer of the CHA attended the Arizona Annual Equine Summit. This is a statewide meeting of the Arizona State Horsemen’s Association, known as the Arizona Horse Council (www.arizonahorsecouncil.org), of which our group is a member. CHA officers updated the council and Summit attendees on CHA activities in Coconino County and brought back information from the meeting on current state & national issues affecting equestrians.
CHA representatives have also met with the current Flagstaff City Manager, Kevin Burke, in an effort to encourage participation from the City of Flagstaff in preserving and promoting the equestrian venue at Fort Tuthill County Park. The CHA gave a presentation at a formal meeting of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce to garner support and interest in preserving the equestrian facilities at Fort Tuthill as a way of bolstering our local economy via the number of attendees that come from all over the Southwest to participate in equestrian events at our County Park while spending money in our local restaurants, hotels, and service industries.
CHA officers participated in an Ad Hoc Citizens marketing group aimed at gathering sponsors and increasing attendance at the 55th Annual Coconino County Horse Races held over 4th of July weekend at Fort Tuthill County Park. The 2010 horse races were in jeopardy of being discontinued due to budget cuts implemented by the State of Arizona, and it became necessary to foster public awareness and sponsorships from the local community in order to compensate for this shortfall in funding. As a result of these efforts, attendance at the 2010 races was the highest and the Net Revenue loss was the lowest it had been in the most current five year period.
CHA’s President and Vice-President served as consultants to the operations department of the CCPR to establish the bid and building specifications for two new barns which were constructed in the stabling area at Fort Tuthill County Park in the fall of 2009. The new barns replaced those whose roofs had collapsed due to heavy winter snowfall.
Present
Although we now have our official 501(c)(3) non-profit status, we have signed a Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement with the Friends of Coconino County Parks (FCCP), a 501(c)(3) corporation, establishing a restricted fund to receive donations of cash and other property designated specifically for repairs, maintenance and upkeep of the Community Arena project located at Fort Tuthill County Park. The need for a Community Arena is exemplified by the fact that the multiple riding arenas at the Park are kept locked, except when being leased by the County for a specific equestrian event. Paying competitors in a Lessee event are the only riders currently able to utilize the existing riding arenas at Fort Tuthill. Opening a Community Riding Arena for free public access will allow and encourage more citizens to make use of their County Park, and provide a much needed amenity for our many children and adults who own and ride horses yet do not have the space and/or funds to build a riding arena in their own backyard. While both larger and smaller communities in Arizona and other states can boast of a public arena, the Flagstaff area does not currently meet this need for its citizens.
An existing, but unused, rectangular arena located within the infield of the race track at Fort Tuthill County Park has been identified because it lends itself very well to becoming a Community Riding Arena, free for any rider to use on a casual, drop-in basis. This Arena will also be used as a venue for free educational & instructional seminars being offered to the equestrian community. As a part of our written agreement with the Coconino County Parks & Recreation Department (CCPR), the CHA agreed to, and succeeded in, raising the $9200 which CCPR estimated it would cost to renovate the arena and make it usable for the public. These donations were raised from business, government, and individual sponsors. The Coconino County Board of Supervisors responded favorably to the CHA’s request for donations, and allocated $2000 in Community Initiative Funding towards the Arena renovation project in 2010. The Parks & Recreation Department has committed in writing to the ongoing maintenance of the Community Arena, with the provision that their specific budget requests are approved for this purpose. If these funds were to become unavailable at some point in the future due to budget constraints, the CHA has the County’s written approval to provide this on going maintenance through volunteer funds and services.
Our organization continues to meet with all levels of the Coconino County Government to promote equestrian interests in our community. Since January of 2009, we have held bi-monthly meetings with the CCPR staff, and representatives from the County Parks & Recreation Commission, to act as an advisory and resource group for Coconino County, relative to their equestrian-based activities and concerns, along with our focus of being a broad based educational group for the horse community. In addition, the CHA has brought in equestrian experts of many disciplines to give free educational seminars to the public at our monthly lunch meetings.
The CHA has been active in meeting with the CCPR, Arizona Department of Transportation, and the Coconino National Forest Service to design multimodal trails which have been proposed for the east side of Flagstaff within the Doney Park community and within the Coconino National Forest Service. Once completed, these trails will have been designed to serve hikers, bikers, and equestrians. The CHA has also been active in promoting the installation of equestrian-friendly gates on trails within the Coconino National Forest to replace existing barb wire gates that restrict access along popular trails. The CHA also sponsors, promotes and participates in joint-interest recreational trail building and maintenance projects with mountain bikers, hikers, dirt bikers, birdwatchers, and the Forest Service being conducted on the Coconino National Forest.
Future
On a local level, CHA continues to raise funds and volunteer donations of labor and materials to complete the construction of the new Community Arena, install new hitching rails in key locations at Fort Tuthill County Park, and promote and support equestrian interests at Fort Tuthill County Park. This will be an ongoing endeavor as these aging facilities are in poor repair, and Coconino County Parks and Recreation Department currently lacks the budgetary funding to repair, remodel and update the equestrian venues at this County Park in Flagstaff.
On a statewide level, CHA remains active as a member of the Arizona Horse Council to promote and preserve equestrian interests across state and county lands in Arizona and to educate the general public in Northern Arizona of changes and status.
On a national level, CHA plans to become a Member of the national organization, Equestrian Land Conservation Resource (www.elcr.org), to help foster that organization’s objective to conserve land and preserve access for equestrians to public and private lands within Coconino County. The CHA also has plans to raise public donations to install equine friendly gates in place of barb wire gates on popular trails in the Coconino National Forest as the forest service does not have the funds to provide these gates.
CHA has recently begun working with the Friends of Coconino County Parks to bring the Black Stallion Literacy Project (www.bslf-online.org) to school age children in our county, using Fort Tuthill County Park as the venue for this activity. We are also beginning talks with the local Search and Rescue organization to conduct joint clinics promoting trail safety. These clinics will be free to the public and will provide desensitization training and education in proper trail etiquette for horses, bikers, and hikers.