Membership
To join the Backcountry Horsemen of California, first, determine what kind of membership you want (below). Then print the Membership Application.
Print it and fill it out. Remember, we are the Mid Valley Unit.
Mail it in with your check.
Need a bit of persuasion? Here are some good reasons to join us.
Types of Membership:
Individual memberships are for individuals 18 and over. You get one vote at General meetings.
Family memberships are for – families! You and your family may participate in all BCHC events. You get two votes during General Meetings. Everyone in your family has to live at the same address.
Benefactor: A Benefactor has all the privileges of a family membership, but you are contributing more to our cause.
Patron: A Patron has all the privileges of a family membership, but you are contributing even more to our cause.
Mt. Whitney: Mt. Whitney has all the privileges of a family membership, but you are contributing at the top level. In California, Mt. Whitney is as high as you can go and still touch the ground. That fact gave a name to our Mt. Whitney membership type; this group contributes the most to our efforts.
Associate: If you’d like to participate in more than one BCHC Local Unit, you may maintain one or more BCHC Associate Memberships. This Membership is available ONLY to persons already holding Individual or higher membership in good standing.
Why Join?
You love the backcountry. You love horses. You’d like to pay a little back for all that they have done for you. You’d like to introduce the joys of backcountry hoseback riding to the next generation. You’d like to work to conserve backcountry wilderness, protect stock users’ historic use of the wilderness and educate the public about “Leave No Trace” wilderness use. Are there more resaons to join the BCHC? Here are some:
We’re a great bunch of people. We laugh a lot and we’re not stuck-up. There isn’t much joy in doing good with a group of people you can’t stand. We’re down-to-earth and friendly.
Left: Michael King and Rich Kirchner at the Fall Play Day.
Right: 2008 Unit President CJ Hargreaves helping clean up at the Columbia Christmas Parade.
Expert Training. We work closely with the US Forest Service. They offer classes for volunteers. You can learn how to do things you never dreamed of doing before.
Left: Cross-cut saw training class. (Chain saws are not allowed in wilderness areas; back to Paul Bunyan.)
Right: Carl Perry and Joel Morken clearing a trail near Huckleberry Lake.
Strength in Numbers. Whether you are refurbishing a camp, clearing a trail, lobbying for (or against) a new Forest Service policy, or teaching a class on Leave No Trace to high school students, you do better in a group. We have 300 members in the Mid Valley Unit, more than 3,000 across the state. We work together.
Left: Donna Peterson, Manuel De Oliveira, Darla Coelho and Nancy Gross setting a fire ring.
Right: Riding together.
Beautiful Country. If you are going to work for the common good, what better place than the Sierra Nevada? We have work parties in some of the prettiest places in the state.
Left: Huckleberry Lake. ‘Nuff said.
Right: East side of the Sierra, near Ebbetts Pass.
We’re great cooks. People who camp with horses and mules, for work parties or for pleasure, can carry Dutch ovens. Our Dutch oven cooks can whip up a gourmet meal in the middle of the wilderness.
Left: Pecan-crusted dessert.
Right: Chicken stew.
Pass it on. We give you the chance to teach the next generation how to pack with horses and mules, how to treat the wilderness gently and how to cook with a Dutch oven.
Left: Carl Perry demonstrating how to pack an iron mule to 4-H students.
Right: Lloyd Erlandson demonstrating the same thing, with a real mule, to an MJC Class.
Memorials
These are on-line tributes to members who are gone but not forgotten. They are in chronological order, the latest first.
Claudia Parrish, July 2, 1951 – November 5, 2016.
Larry Difani, February 13, 1936 – February 21, 2016
Victoria “Vickie” Kardell, January 16, 1940 – July 15, 2014.
John Thomas, 1932 – June 19, 2014.
Bobby Lee Thomas, 1940 – January 15, 2014.
Donald Eugene Butler, March 4, 1936 – November 7, 2012.
Kim Marie O’Hagan, November 22, 1957 – September 27, 2012
David M (Dave) Coelho, January 27, 1938 – July 31, 2010