Re: Nature is for who?

[Linda Cowles <linda_cowles@mentorg.com>]

CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com wrote:
> Unfortunately, Bob makes a good point here.  I don't know of too many other
> mid-40's ladies such as myself who will load up a pack horse with chainsaw,
> saw gas, etc., and take off alone, ponying said pack horse down the trail for
> a dawn-til-dusk day clearing trail. 

It doesn't always take this kind of equipment!!! In years of trail work,
I rarely come across anything needing a chain saw, and there is usually
an acceptable way around it, at least temporarily. If it needs a chain
saw, it's huge. My hand saw is sharp enough to go through anything 4
inches in diameter easily... as is the wire saw. It depends on how hard
the wood is.

Most of the work volunteers do is cutting back growth and removing
debris. AND filling bike / horse gullies with debris to encourage them
to ride elsewhere on the trail. We have trail days and construct new
trails, but the real job is regular maintenance. Proactive work keeps it
from getting too tough.

"Trail work", for us, can often be done at a brisk trot, clipping as we
go (half halt and clip). If it gets done regularly, it rarely takes more
than that. Coe is *not* a small park, has hundreds of miles of
maintained trail, and this is how it stays maintained.

  - Linda (remembering to sharpen those things and put her money where
her mouth is next time out!!!)