Friday, July 29, 2011

Mule Train Supplies Calif. Wildland Firefighters

A pack train of 30 horses and mules is helping to supply firefighters who are working to contain the three- week old Lion Fire in the Golden Trout Wilderness. The animals are hauling food and supplies into the Lion Meadow area where 55 firefighters are based. Animals from seven national forests in California are part of the packing effort, which is being coordinated by the US Forest Service’s regional pack stock program. “Pack animals have been used in remote parts of the Sierra Nevada for generations,” said Michael Morse, wilderness and pack stock program manager for the Inyo National Forest. “By supplying the firefighters with horses and mules, we are able to both minimize the use of motorized equipment in the wilderness and pass on packing skills to the next generation of wilderness managers.” Hauling approximately 1,200 pounds per trip, the pack train can supply a crew of 20 people for three days. The trip takes approximately nine hours round-trip, making for a long day in the saddle. “This is not easy work,” said Pat Baily, wilderness manager for Los Padres National Forest. “You have to have a passion for it.”...more

Another example of what a wilderness designation brings you. We better haul some of those mules to NM so the Border Patrol and the Sheriff can use them to chase the drug traffickers in the Bingaman Bandito Boulevard. Better bring a bunch cuz it's over 240,000 acres on or near the border with Mexico.

We'll have mules chasin' mules, except their mules will be heavily armed and in many cases mounted on motorized vehicles.

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