U.S. Forest Service strategy document paints bleak picture

The Forest Service has had a conflicting set of goals for the last few decades but, for Region 1 at least, things seem to be coming to a head. And it is not good news, especially for trails . . .

A new strategy for managing public lands for recreation, heritage and wilderness paints a bleak picture of the U.S. Forest Service’s own ability to tackle the job.

“You could say this looks like a D-minus report card,” said George Bain, Forest Service Region 1 director of recreation, lands, minerals, heritage and wilderness. “To us, this is how it is. We wanted to take a good, hard look and develop a strategy for how to work in that world. We don’t have all the money we’d want. We don’t have all the workforce we’d want. We don’t have the ability to take care of everything the way we’d like. This is the landscape we’re working in. Let’s see how to address this.”

The 50-page document released last August got little notice outside the Region 1 Missoula headquarters. But it had been more than a year in the drafting, and it has been signed by Regional Forester Leanne Marten, her deputies and the supervisors of all 10 national forests that report to her.

And note this part:

“Workforce skills are also on the decline” in maintaining Region 1’s 28,000 miles of trail. Most of the five Wild and Scenic River corridors lack completed management plans.

In late January, Bain delivered further bad news to a roundtable of recreation partners – Region 1’s trail maintenance budget is taking a 30 percent cut. That’s going to be phased in with 10 percent increments during the next three years. The money was getting reallocated to places like California that have more user-days of trail use.

Back Country Horsemen of Montana packing class scholarship available; donations needed

Greg Schatz just sent us the following information. If I was younger, I’d jump all over this . . .

The Back Country Horsemen of Montana is offering a full scholarship to the packing class taught and donated by Bob Marshall Wilderness Outfitters. The class is June 11-15 and the winner is due at the North Fork of the Blackfoot trailhead at 10 am June 11. We are expecting that the winning applicant will be in the 18-25 age range but anyone is welcome to apply.

The packing class scholarship application, sponsored by BCHMT and Bob Marshall Wilderness Outfitters is online at http://www.bchmt.org/flatbch/application.html. There are instructions on the application for where to send it when it is complete.

The deadline for applying is March 31.

For additional information, see the packing class poster (PDF, 199KB).

Also note that the Back Country Horsemen of Montana needs donations to help defray the cost of this scholarship program. The packer apprentice program will cost a total of $1,640 for this coming summer and they are looking for donations to make sure this project can be successful. They welcome any amount of donation. You can donate on-line or you can send a check with “packer apprentice” in the memo to BMWF, PO Box 190688, Hungry Horse MT 59919.

There are more details of the project and the costs associated with it, in the program poster (PDF, 290KB).

Calendar updated through October

We’ve updated the calendar through the end of October, which is likely the end of the hiking season as well. As usual, there’s always the potential for the occasional short-notice event to be wedged in there, too.

Coal Ridge Lookout Hike

Last Saturday, July 18, 2015 was the Coal Ridge Lookout Hike. We set this up as part of the Montana Wilderness Association’s “Wilderness Walks” program, with North Fork Trails providing the hike leaders. The route follows Flathead National Forest Trail 2 from the trailhead on Moran Basin Road until it intersects Trail 14 on top of Coal Ridge. The remains of the old Coal Ridge lookout are a short distance east along the ridge-top. The round trip distance is about 6.8 miles (11 km).

Trouble is, it was a damp, cool, foggy morning and no one but Randy and I showed up — wimps. So, we did the hike anyway. About three hours later, we were on the ridge-top, enjoying the sunshine and a nice view. Our missing hikers were still down there in the dank fog.

View from Coal Ridge – fog in the valleys

We had a pleasant time at the site of the old fire lookout. We had a leisurely lunch, tried to identify some of the peaks in Glacier Park and surveyed the surrounding territory with a view toward future visits.

Coal Ridge – packing up after lunch

Coal Ridge – remains of old lookout

On the way up, we took note of a stretch of ripe huckleberries. On the way back, we stopped for some berry picking. Randy anticipated adding his to pancakes. Mine ended up on ice cream.

Trail 2 – huckleberries

Altogether, a very pleasant day. Any expedition that ends with huckleberries is a success.

North Fork Inter Local meeting tomorrow!

The summer North Fork Inter Local Agreement meeting will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, July 15 at Sondreson Hall. Start time is 1:00 p.m. The meeting is preceded by a potluck lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m., with the North Fork Trails Association providing the burgers and brats. Please bring a side dish.

And don’t forget the annual Firewise Day meeting in the morning, starting at 9:30 a.m.

The Inter Local Agreement provides for face-to-face contact with representatives of agencies whose policies and actions affect the North Fork. Interlocal Agreement meetings are held in the winter (in town) and summer (at Sondreson Hall). This is always a very interesting meeting, with reports from a range of government agencies and local organizations and often some quite vigorous discussion.

Trail 2 is clear

As mentioned in a previous post, we got Trail 2 mostly cut out on July 2. Yesterday (July 6, 2015) a group of us went in with a chain saw and finished up a few of the balkier items, especially a big old spruce blocking travel at the 2.5 mile (4 km) point.

Barring additional blow-downs, the trail is clear.

Bill is happy now

Randy, Sue and Greg look pleased, too