Chainsaws (temporarily) allowed in Wilderness

[Poser]

Forest Service to allow chain saws in two Southwest Colorado wilderness areas

The U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday it will skirt protections in the Wilderness Act to allow chain saws for trail work this summer in two...

durangoherald.com

 

[Flatgo]

seems like a common sense proposal coming from the forest service which is rare...probably saves a boat load of money compared to clearing trail with a cross cut saw...

 

[.204smokechaser]

USFS is starting to relax their ways in many places. I for one prefer to use a cross cut in the wilderness, but after all wilderness is a human construct so I think allowing chainsaws is a good thing.

 

[SWOHTR]

Interesting. Seems like the right solution. Then again, they could just “close” the area, but I’d imagine people would ignore that and travel in there. Which is fine, when they get caught, just sentence them to clearing the downed trees...with axes and cross cut saws.

 

[publichunter1]

If they are going to keep the trails up then I think that's the most efficient way to do it. However all the beetle kill blocking the trails do help keep competition out during archery season.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Holy cow, really? "Wilderness advocates fear decision sets precedent, could chip away at Wilderness Act"

There is a big difference between conservation and preservation. This seems like a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[Anozira]

I think this is partly in response to the large 416 fire that burned near/in Durango July of last year.

416 Fire on track to become one of Colorado’s largest wildfires

The 416 Fire is on track this week to become one of Colorado’s largest wildfires in state history.

durangoherald.com

 

[Soj51hopeful]

This idea of temporarily allowing saws has been floated around for a while. The forest agencies don’t have the correct budget to maintain what they have. Allowing saws would let 1 man accomplish what it would take 10 men to do. Everyone bitches (hippie hikers and all) when the trails are unmaintained but don’t want noise pollution but don’t want extra use fees etc etc.

 

[JWP58]

I patiently await the bha crowd yelling about how the earth will stop rotating due to this abomination.

 

[brsnow]

People freak out because the goal of keeping the land wild from the start prohibits these actions. They are not new, they were written from the start. Suggest temporary gun control when crime is higher and see people get all riled up...

 

[Boog304]

This idea of temporarily allowing saws has been floated around for a while. The forest agencies don’t have the correct budget to maintain what they have. Allowing saws would let 1 man accomplish what it would take 10 men to do. Everyone bitches (hippie hikers and all) when the trails are unmaintained but don’t want noise pollution but don’t want extra use fees etc etc.

I’d say one normal person with with a crosscut could likely do more than 10 FS folks with chainsaws

Nonetheless a good sensible move

 

[Soj51hopeful]

A lot of trail maintenance is done by volunteers. The back country horseman’s in my local wilderness do tons of volunteer trail work. It’s crazy the national park service runs chainsaws all over their wilderness but not USFS. Temporarily let designated volunteers along with forest service clear the trails with a time expiration!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

The amount of downfall on some of the trails in these two Wilderness Areas makes me understand why the FS would make this temporary exception. However there are so many trails in other Wilderness Areas around the State, and in surrounding States, that are just as bad or worse. It's not like the beetle kill is isolated to the San Juans. I would expect to see other National Forests follow this model in the future.

 

[5MilesBack]

Who says there has to be cleared and open trails in a "Wilderness Area"? Why make it designated wilderness if you're going to maintain "trails". What's next....hand rails? Maybe that's why I avoid wilderness areas, the trails on regular NF are always covered and blocked by downfall. I prefer to not see any trails.

 

[idahohikker]

Who says there has to be cleared and open trails in a "Wilderness Area"? Why make it designated wilderness if you're going to maintain "trails". What's next....hand rails? Maybe that's why I avoid wilderness areas, the trails on regular NF are always covered and blocked by downfall. I prefer to not see any trails.

I agree. That's the problem with federal wilderness designation. It's a marketing scheme. We have a lot of NF lands in the West that are more wild.

 

[willfrye027]

I used to do trail work. Allowing chainsaws in the wilderness is not groundbreaking or new. If an area has too much deadfall to reasonably clear with hand tools, they can get chainsaws in there. Great example of the media blowing things out of proportion.

 

[Marmots]

I've had a special permit to take two snowmobiles into a wilderness area to recover a particularly valuable radio collar off of an animal that wandered in there and then died.

I'm certainly glad that wilderness areas are closed to mechanized use, but was unaware that this one-time kind offer "set a precedent that could chip away at the wilderness act".

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Just remember, the clearing is NOT for benefit of hunting access.

 

[Muttly]

Good Lord, Rorge, pack in a Stihl 440 and be done with it.

 

[Poser]

Lawsuits filed

Forest Service sued over decision to use chain saws in wilderness areas

A coalition of conservation groups has sued the U.S. Forest Service for its recent decision to allow chain saws for trail work in two wilderness...

durangoherald.com