Crew 1 – Shoshone National Forest, Popo Agie River District, June 26-July 5 – It has been a few years since we have been privileged to work in our nation’s first national forest, Shoshone National Forest, and working near the Popo Agie River was a beautiful reunion. The crew accomplished new trail construction for the district as well as maintaining existing trails, armoring turns, and building turnpikes.
Education Day – The crew hiked with a US Forest Service plant specialist and learned about sub-alpine plants and ecosystems not to forget seeing a beautiful waterfall. At the end of the hike, the crew learned the best way to apply to federal jobs (it’s a process).
Day off – After all the hard work, the crew took a day to run into Lander to eat, relax, and be merry.
All Said and Done:
- 1,110 ft of new trail built
- 2,000 (ish) ft of trail improved
- 100 ft turnpike built
- 70 ft switchback built
- 5 ft of rock armory
- 30 ft rock wall
Crew 2 – Bridger-Teton National Forest – Greys River District, June 26-July 5 – Yet another trails project for this crew, this time in the B-T working on bog bridges, reroutes, and drainage along the Grey’s River Trail. They also worked around Baily Lake, spiking camp into the back country which in Wyoming usually means horse packing. A big thanks from us belongs to the Wyoming Back Country Horseman for packing our crew in so they don’t have to carry their whole lives on the backs.
Education Day – An expert in soil and hydrology visited the crew discussing the importance of Wild & Scenic Rivers, water management, and career options in state and federal land management.
Day off – Having earned a day of sitting in the shade or bopping into shops, the crew hung out in the Jackson, WY, road the alpine coaster, and watched fireworks at Snow King for the 4th of July.
All Said and Done:
- 11 hazard trees removed
- 5 trees harvested for a bog bridge
- 102 ft of bog bridges built
- 300 ft of rerouted trail
- countless small knicks dug into the trail for drainage
- 32 miles of trail walked for work
Crew 3 – Casper Biathlon Club, June 26-July 5 – Chainsaw, chainsaw, chainsaw. This hitch worked almost entirely with chainsaws as they cleared and forged through .5 mile of existing trail for quality material for bucks and rails in an effort to get more buck and rail materials to the Casper Biathlon Club so they may use the materials to construct fence themselves. Casper Mountain is a premier biathlon competition destination and The Casper Biathlon Club makes sure of its providing this world class resource each winter…with a little help from us every now and then. Along with a constant assembly line of picking, felling, hauling, and creating buck and rails, the crew also used the reject logs for firewood for local campgrounds.
Education – The crew volunteered their time to a Casper Biathlon Club summer event (skates and electric rifles) held during the time the crew was working. The learned how to use electric rifles and then run competition’s tracking time gauges, what penalties were, and how to load targets. The crew had a great day running around talking to athletes and helping out.
Day off – The crew took the 4th of July off and headed to Alcova Reservoir to swim and watch the fireworks.
All Said and Done:
- 102 bucks built
- 135 rails built
- 23.8 cords of wood split
- 45 trees felled
- 195 trees bucked and limbed
[pictures – the crew forgot to give us their pictures 😦 ]
Crew 4 (aka the “B-Team”) – South Pass City, June 26-July 5 – The historic South Pass City has been a frequent project site for us over the years and it has been a pleasure to see how much the site’s tourism infrastructure has grown thanks to some of our projects sponsored by Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources. Most of our work this year belonged to a 4-mile trail system that the state park maintains. The work included rock work, bridge work, and general tread maintenance. After their trail work was finished, the crew helped the park get ready for its yearly Gold Rush Days. The crew also assisted in some general maintenance and fencing work around the historic site.
Education Day – The crew toured the “ol’ gold mine,” better known as the Carissa Mine and learned about old mining techniques and milling equipment.
Day off – A casual day under the sun kayaking
All Said and Done:
- 5 trees felled
- 16 trees bucked and limbed
- 7 wire gates made or maintained
- .75 miles of barb clips applied
- 3 miles of trail improved
- 1 bridge improved
- 10 ft of new rockwall
- 1 day of wallpapering a historic building to maintain historic accuracy
- 2 days of painting historic buildings to maintain historic accuracy
- 1 day of chinking a historic cabin
WyVTC – Curt Gowdy State Park, June 26-July 7 – After two hitches at Glendo State Park, the crew headed down to another Wyoming mountain biking mecca – Curt Gowdy State Park and its IMBA Epic Trails, The crew once again worked on improving mountain biking trails, bridges, rock structures, an ADA trail, and much needed chainsaw work in the southwestern edge of the park.
Education Day – the crew forwent the education competent this time around to save up the hours to go to Yellowstone National Park for the whole day next hitch. Which, we are happy to report, they are there now (July 11th).
Day off – 4th of July was spent well with the crew heading over to Cheyenne for fireworks displays as well as the simple necessities of doing ones laundry and sitting in a comfy chair.
***Maggie Mullen with Wyoming Public Media (WPM) came out to visit us for a piece she will be airing on WPM’s Open Spaces
All Said and Done:
- 252 trees (dead ponderosa pine and aspen) felled
- 118 tree bucked and limbed
- 32 acres cleared of snags and hazard trees
- 1.5 miles of improvements to an Kate’s Trail (ADA)
- countless number of wheelbarrows with fill material hauled
- 10-15 rock structures built
- 30 ft riprap retaining wall built
- 5-6 miles of trail improved
[picture – the crew forgot to give us their pictures 😦 ]
Wyoming Conservation Corps 