Page 4 - The Black Range Naturalist Vol. 4, No. 3

for over a decade. I am often described as the opposite of a CDT through-hiker; I hike most areas of the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wilderness and explore as many random canyons and mesas and deer trails as possible.
My work on a Forest Service trail crew started in 2005 and continued for more than a decade. The actual boots on the ground work was funded by
grants written by permanent Forest Service office employees. The reduced budget for clearing trails has been an issue since around 2000.
During my time with the Forest Service, I helped create free resources to help trail users plan their trips amidst deteriorating trail conditions. This included a trails clear map, trail not recommended list, trails incorrectly mapped, water updates and more.
When funding for the Wilderness Trail Crew disappeared, I knew that I could not walk away from the trails in the Gila and watch them disappear. Joining forces with Gerry and Gila Back Country Horsemen was a natural move for me.
Gerry worked for the Forest
Service for thirty years,
mostly in the Gila National
Forest, where he was a
District Ranger on two
districts and Acting District
Ranger on the Wilderness
District. He often rode his
horse on the weekends to
explore some of the areas
of the national forest that he managed and because he enjoyed being in the woods. When he retired in 2005, he wanted to ride his horse even more but was running into problems with trail conditions which made horse riding hazardous. So, he created a trails program within Gila BCH. He has been organizing trail projects for Gila BCH members for over 17 years, removing thousands of logs and preventing many trails from becoming impassable. On a yearly basis, Gila BCH has logged between 40 and 100 miles of trail.
This work was helpful for all trail users but not enough to keep trails open. Brush and erosion on the trails caused other issues that were not being addressed. In addition, the active members of BCH are only getting older and not many younger equine people are joining (a nation-wide problem for Back Country Horsemen in general).
adventure starts with some in depth preparation.
Trail Project Prep
Before the trail project begins, I flag the trail, sometimes re-finding obliterated sections of trail. I identify the trail work needed and write it on pin flags.
Those who are not interested or are unable to volunteer on trail projects but still want to support trails, help make food for the trail projects. This yummy homemade food is made ahead of time and then vacuum sealed and frozen. This makes cooking in the backcountry much easier. Simply heat the meals in boiling water, cut open the vacuum sealed bag and place it on a plate. It looks like it just came out of the oven. A meal could include beef stew, lasagna, cavatini, egg dishes, burritos and more. Eating well after working hard on the trail all day is imperative. (See photo on following page.)
Gerry and I perform outreach to find volunteers to work on the trails. Some of our volunteers are individuals from the general area – Tucson to ABQ to El Paso and all the towns in-between. We have been able to attract a diverse group of people to do this work, as shown by the group photos at the middle and lower left of the following page, which I
took. As part of our outreach, we work with a variety of
groups including New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors (NMVFO), Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC), Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance (SNMTA), the Silver City Bike group, and more.
As a side note: all these groups are quality organizations. We recommend checking out their other trail projects if you are interested in doing trail work in other areas.
Gerry Engle, photograph by Gabe Etengoff
Moving Forward United
Rather than create yet another non- profit, I decided to work under the Gila BCH non-profit status and join forces with them. As a result, Gila BCH now brings together both equine-riders, hikers and bikers (in non-wilderness) to do many types of trail work, including brushing, tread, trail marking and logging. Our joint efforts have proven
to be very efficient. A typical trail project
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