Vintage tools keep area trails clear

The Cabinet Ranger District is unique. It is the home to a 94,000-acre wilderness area known as Cabinet Mountain Wilderness. Most Forest Service districts do not contain a wilderness area within its boundaries, much less one that was designated in 1964 when the Wilderness Act originated.

Wilderness areas comprise less than five percent of America's land base. These areas are managed to limit natural resource altering activities, by preserving the resource in its natural state as much as possible, with the hope that it remains so for generations to come.

"No motorized or mechanized use within the wilderness," Joel Sather, Cabinet Ranger District recreation specialist listed as a federal regulation set in place for these exclusive areas. "We use crosscut saws, axes, small hand saws and loppers/pruners to clear brush" when managing trails in the wilderness area. "So, it takes a lot of work."

Sather commented that the only good crosscut saws are the old ones. It is a good thing that the Forest Service has a few well-maintained saws on hand, because like a lot of old things, they do not make them like they used to. He also commented that "the only people who use these crosscut saws are U.S. wilderness managers and collegiate logger sports teams."

It is probably safe to say that very few people know the proper technique for operating a crosscut saw. It is just as likely that most people have never seen one in person. It is a sort of lost art, so to speak. As tool modernization has made jobs much easier and quicker to accomplish, many of the old-fashion tools and practices have been lost along the way.

The Cabinet Ranger District recently hosted a training for their trail crew to learn the practices of crosscut sawing and proper axe technique, so they may clear trees and brush from trails in the wilderness area. The agency opened the training to volunteer partners as well since they require all employees and volunteers to be certified sawyers if working to clear trees and brush.

Five members of the Trout Creek Back Country Horsemen (TCBCH) joined the Forest Service at St. Paul trailhead to learn the skill and receive the required "certification so we can work for the Forest Service as volunteers," stated Doc Milham, TCBCH member. He added that the club prides themselves in the work they do to clear trails for both horse riding and hiking.

"There's a lot more to crosscut sawing than I remember from my younger Boy Scout years," Milham recalled. He said it wasn't too physically demanding, but there is a lot to know about how a tree will fall, what effects the trees bend will have on its fall, and the proper techniques and methods for a successful saw and fall. "It is not as simple as pushing and pulling," he said with a chuckle.

The Cabinet Ranger District has 300 miles of trail, according Sather. "Of that, 30 miles are within the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness and are maintained with cool, old tools," he added. The Forest Service requires training on proper use and safety of all tools they use, even the old school ones.

Working in wilderness areas means going back in time; to a time when things were simpler, even though jobs took more time and effort to finish. It means when working in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness it's time to hang up the chainsaw and find a more traditional way to clear trail.

The TCBCH meet the second Thursday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for July 12 at the Trout Creek Senior Citizens Center beginning at 6 p.m.