maverick wrote:Hi Ken,
Welcome to HST! One question, you wrote here: There is no compensation for the
work hours and one must provide their own food.
Trail crews I have had the fortune to share time with in the backcountry in SEKI
had food that did not seem to have been carried into the backcountry by each
individual member by horses or mules, maybe me just assuming that incorrectly, but
if not, why would a WVR have to carry their own individual food rations and not eat
with the trail crew?
mainly, because they are
Rangers, not a trail crew. It many seem like the same thing, and sometimes they
do the same things, but they are actually different. Rangers tend to be a more independent lot in what they are doing, than dedicated trail crews.
It is true that very occasionally, a ranger crew may have packer support into a remote location, typically for their food and tools (but nothing else), but that is not a common scenario. Even then, they have individual food.
I should also say that I do a considerable amount of trail work yearly, and am a C-Certifier Crosscut Saw instructor for the USFS. My main group is the High Sierra Volunteer Trail Crew (trailcrew.org), and they DO provide a cook, food, and packer support for backcountry trips (and frontcountry trips)--all free. However, they have a group that spends full time fundraising to make that happen.
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