[at-l] Policing the trail...

[RoksnRoots at aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

         Jestbill wrote:

           

            " but if someone managed to
build a "trailbuilding" machine that would allow a crew to build a mile of
trail a day instead of a few yards, I say use it.

The outright ban of certain tools that could do the job more quickly and
easily is just the kind of robotic mindlessness we've come to expect from our 
government."



            ***   Couldn't agree more. I've participated in a shelter 
building project where I couldn't hear a chainsaw being operated less than 200 yards 
away.

           It's an unnecessary, bureaucratic burden to restrict people doing 
simple path maintenance from using a chainsaw. If anti-environmental groups 
want to use this as reason for damaging wilderness they should just be 
disallowed on the basis that it isn't a valid analogy. 

             I like the trail building machine idea. I've built new trail. 
It's very stressful on the body and volunteer time. Because of this I've 
imagined a hydraulic spider-legged excavator with winch that could tip toe up the 
trail with minimal damage. The best thing Trail crews could use would be either a 
helicopter or dirigible that would drop heavy items at the work site. 
Including pallets of arranged stone cribbing and trailbed fill materials and drainage 
devices. This would really accelerate the trail building and erosion control 
process...