It's a little after 1:00 p.m. Central Time on November 3 as I write this Trail Post. The election is over and Mr. Kerry has given his concession speech.

In the past four years the whole idea of access to our federal lands was moved from the bottom of our land managers' list to the very top. We have seen a dramatic change in how our land managers look to us to develop working partnerships. We have had to learn how the land management bureaucracy thinks and works. We have had to learn their lingo. And we have had to develop a level of trust on both sides.

All of that has been accomplished and it's time to move forward. We have four years to build on our working partnerships. Now is no time to sit back and begin to take for granted our relationships. We are being handed four more years to cement in place lasting relationships.

I measure our success one trail at a time. Saving a trail, rerouting a trail, or creating a new trail all begins at the local level. All of us should take the opportunity that is being handed to us. A lot of riders have worked long and hard for this to happen.

If you are not involved in any trail preservation work today, make it a point to join our work force tomorrow. All we ask of you is 20 hours a year, working on our trails. Contact your state trail advocate and volunteer your time. It's an investment in our sport and future access to your trails. In an effort to help our riders in their trail preservation efforts we will be putting on a trails school in each region over the next two years. This is an aggressive schedule. We need AERC certified trail masters out there teaching our riders how to rebuild, reroute, or create new trails. The AERC is going to make an investment in teaching you the skills you will need to work with our land managers.

As a preview to what a trail master course is all about I have arranged for Mr. Mike Riter to do a two-hour class on trail building and preservation on Saturday morning at the convention. Mike and Jan Riter own and operate Trail Design Specialists out of Conyers, Georgia. They are the country's leading trail design experts.

So there you have it. An enormous commitment has come from the AERC board of directors to provide funding for trail education, trail grants for trail maintenance, repair and funding to assist in the development of partnership projects with our federal land managers. The board has stepped up to the line to make all of this happen for you. Will you join in our efforts in 2005?

As I have said in the past, "The pay stinks while doing trail preservation work, but the rewards are incredible." Remember: All you need is a horse and a trail.