Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Backcountry Horsemen Contributing Time and Muscle to Trail Work

Operating under a new five year agreement with the Forest Service, the Wildhorse Plains Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen has joined forces with the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District and Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) trail crews to clear and improve trails on the ranger district, bringing the added capacity of their stock to clear logs and rocks from trails, carry supplies and tools for restoration work, clear culverts and ditches, and repair water bars – all critical but sometimes unnoticed components that keep a trail system accessible and usable.

The two organizations have also been sharing expertise and skills in a series of work-days and training sessions that ultimately benefits public users of the trails. District trail managers organized their first trail maintenance instruction workshop for backcountry Horsemen in spring of 2010 under a previous agreement. This summer, the Backcountry Horsemen spent a day with members of a YCC crew, demonstrating how stock must negotiate a trail and why trail widths and switchbacks are required to be a certain size.

You can read the rest of this article on the Lolo National Forest website.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

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