[pct-l] Trail clearing with horses and chainsaws

[Charles Williams]

Devon,
Chainsaws are allowed for trail maintenance in most National Forest land.  The one noteable exception are wilderness areas.  The group you ran into was more than likely in a wilderness area.  But the National Park mostly allows chainsaws in wilderness areas.  And to make it even more complicated, sometimes a National Forest will allow chainsaw use in an especially devastating year in a wilderness area.  But that is the exception, not the rule  
 
This past summer I logged out about 60 miles of National Forest land with a chainsaw and some of it was by horseback.  Lassen National Forest and a little bit of Plumas.  I had more planned but because of the minimal winter last year, and the sustained dry summer, chainsaw use was banned early in the year this year.  I had a 70 mile log-out planned from Sierra City to Bucks Summit by horseback that I had to cancel.
 
But the maintainers I know, aside from the Backcountry Horsemen of California, don't carry chainsaws all day to clear trail.  If they plan on going more than a few miles, they carry a crosscut saw.  They are a lot easier to carry and are probably safer for most users in the backcountry.  Either way, you have to go through training to use a saw and be "certified" for it's use.  No, they don't get as much work done as quickly, but if you're going to walk 3 hours in and cut just one hour...

The National Parks usually allow chainsaws in their wilderness areas, though it may be more difficult to become a volunteer sawyer.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is in my area and the PCTA rep for the area is trying to get a volunteer sawyer (me) into the park on horseback.  They invited me to work with their crew for a few days in 2013 and show that I could use a chainsaw safely and they said if that works out okay, I could volunteer on the PCT in 2014!  Personally, I think they're just hoping I'll go away...
 
In the Inyo National Forest this summer there was a major wind event and thousands of trees were blown down.  The Backcountry Horsemen of California were among the first on the scene.  They were allowed to use chainsaws, though it was in a wilderness area, I believe.  I served with a group of volunteer trail maintainers in the same area and was directed to use crosscut saws.  None of the "Can Do Crew" had any experience with chainsaws...
 
Hope I haven't posed more questions than I've answered!
 
QuincyRider
--- On Tue, 9/25/12, Devon Taig <devon.taig at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Devon Taig <devon.taig at gmail.com>
Subject: [pct-l] Trail clearing with horses and chainsaws
To: "pct-l" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 7:24 AM


As I was walking across Oregon this year, I ran across a trail maintenance
group (I think from the PCTA) near Three Fingered Jack.  They didn't have
horses or chainsaws and were facing the daunting task of clearing dozens of
trees using handsaws that had apparently fallen during a wind storm the
previous winter.  When I inquired why they weren't using horses and
chainsaws, I was surprised to hear that they were banned on that part of
the trail.
I'm not clear as to why such a ban would exist in the context of people who
are actively performing trail maintenance.  It would seem to be at least an
order of magnitude easier to clear a trail with a chain saw and a horse
than by hand.  I would like to think that when I donate to organizations
that do trail work that they aren't hamstrung by federal bureaucracy that
impedes getting important work done.  Can anyone shed some light on this?

Devon
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