Forest officials handled bridge removal poorly

Gallatin National Forest officials may have had good reason to remove a bridge over Swan Creek that is important to snowmobilers. But, at the very least, they handled the situation poorly. The bridge is an important part of the Big Sky Snowmobile Trail, a 55-mile, Bozeman-to-Big Sky route that snowmobilers have used for decades. Forest workers removed the bridge earlier this year, citing safety concerns about the aging structure. And they also said there are no plans - and no money - to replace the bridge before the upcoming snowmobiling season. The bridge removal riled snowmobilers who charged the move was a de facto attempt by the Forest Service to close the trail to snow machines. But a Gallatin Forest spokeswoman denied the charge, contending that safety was the only consideration in the bridge removal. Last week, members the Gallatin Valley Snowmobile Association and Citizens for Balance Use, a group that advocates on behalf of motorized forest recreation, constructed a temporary bridge at the site to provide access to the trail during the upcoming winter. And they did it in a single day, calling into question forest officials' argument that there weren't sufficient resources to construct a replacement bridge...more

The solution is simple. Quit studying urban trees and instead chop them down and build bridges with the timber. Kind of a "bridge" between East and West don't you see.