Huntington Beach : Plight of Rain Forests Sparks 3,000-Mile Ride

To raise awareness about the world’s diminishing rain forests, Lucian Spataro will start a 3,000-mile horseback ride from Huntington State Beach to New Jersey at 5 a.m. today as part of “Ride Across America,” sponsored by the Rainforest Action Network.

Spataro, 31, the president of an electronics company in Tucson, Ariz., will ride an Arabian horse named Sweet William for the 4- to 5-month journey.

“It’s kind of a romantic thing that people talk about doing all the time, and I always wanted to do it,” Spataro said. “But the issue is the No. 1 reason why I am doing this.”

Spataro and Sweet William will make up to 100 stops for rallies and presentations, said Randy Hayes, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network. Their first stop will be in Riverside on Saturday.