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[pct-l] Use of tools in the wilderness areas



I did some looking with Google on the subject of using chainsaws in
wilderness areas. I found a discussion of the minimum tool usage by
Wilderness Watch at this webpage:
http://www.wildernesswatch.org/Wild%20Library/Concepts/Tool.htm .
Wilderness Watch is dedicated "to the preservation and proper stewardship of
lands and rivers already included in the National Wilderness Preservation
System (NWPS) and National Wild & Scenic Rivers System (NWSRS)."

The first exception is of course for safety including fires. If safety of
people in the wilderness is involved then tools are permitted.

The second issue is the minimum tool to perform the job. If the wildernesses
administrative section did not propose the use of a non-allowed tool then
the tool would not be allowed since only safety and administrative uses are
allowed to use these tools. The next question was "Is this the minimum tool
to perform the job?" It does not discuss convenience or speed. "Feasibility
must be determined by what is physically possible, and not be premised on
efficiency, convenience, or cost."

I have a feeling from reading this page that this group is a watch dog over
all proposed uses of tools in wilderness areas. They probably take the
minimum tool issue very strictly and contest most proposed usage of tools in
the wilderness.

This fits pretty closely to what that BLM ranger told us when he was trying
to cut that huge blowdown. He felt that a two-person saw would be dangerous,
and he needed a large chainsaw to cut the log. He also talked about lugging
the big chainsaw up the trail for several miles to get to the log. Getting
the minimum tool (chainsaw) to the site could (would) be accomplished
without the use of tools.

Ken