OAT Reporting from Missouri...

[LoneWalker]

Enjoyed reading about your experiences there. Thanks for taking the time to share that with us.

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk

[OakAshandThorn]

OakAshandThorn:

This may sound like a silly question , but why do they only provide you guys with hand tools? Is it to minimise disturbance to the local fauna? or is it just because it's easier to maintain and run hand tools (IE.: no fuel problem)?


Also the Ozark crew sound like a fun bunch of people to work with ...
Common interests (conservation) and also a big fire, a good meal and some bluegrass at the end of a hard day's work!
Awesome !

The Forest Service does use chainsaws, but motorised equipment isn't allowed in wilderness areas. That includes planes and helicopters (except in a critical SAR situation), motorboats, ATVs, dirt bikes, and cars (of course, you can park at the trail head via the access road). Therefore, things are done the old-fashioned way, and I personally find it fantastic that of all the federal conservation agencies and smaller organisations, the USFS has remained at the forefront of teaching new employees and interns how to use and maintain the hand tools. Plus, it is WAAAAAAAAAY more enjoyable to cut through even a large tree trunk with a crosscut, and get past all the tricky pinch points, than to simply let the chainsaw fly. It will take longer, but far more enjoyable.

Oh yeah, they're quite a nice bunch of folks . I guess it helps, too, that where I am in Missouri, there's more of a sense of community than more populated areas (The smallest town in the area here is Caledonia, with a population of 130). And even as an outsider, I feel welcomed and part of the family. Heck, just the other day, I stopped at a local antique store in town - the store was closed, but the lady out front opened it for me when I told her what I was looking for, and I walked out with a gorgeous Schrade Old Timer 250T with the original sheath for $15 . You can hear this friendliness in the way people talk down here - they'll speak very casually, as if they've known you for years. I must say, the only other people I've known to be this laid-back and easy-going were the good folks in rural Vermont and New Hampshire.

[Woody]

Yep, I think it's great too , that no motorised equipment is allowed on wilderness areas. And totally agree about the pleasure of using hand tools ....
Thanks for clarifying that for us.
Regards