The pack stock program is deeply rooted in traditions. It is our link from the past,
from tried and true practices, to the future.
Horsemanship and packing is part of our agency’s identity, part of our culture. And it's a
safe and practical tool that should be continued to be used into the future.
We’re all really proud of the tradition. And I think it's great. And I think it’s
a really cool history, but that's not why we're here. We're here because it works.
The Forest Service pack stock program provides,material support for the various crews and
individuals working in wilderness or other roadless areas.
You can’t have mechanized devices in the wilderness and the only way that one can get
that equipment, the tools to do the job, is by putting it on mules and carrying it into
the backcountry.
It’s either carry it or drag it, is the two ways. And we’re not dragging it, and
it’s too heavy for me to carry, so we put it on these mules.
Most mules carry a hundred and fifty to a hundred seventy-five pounds. And so it's quite
a campaign, but the productivity of what goes on in the backcountry is of a much higher level.
Despite growing demands, the shrinking budgets put the pack stock program at risk.
A lot of the people in the past that knew what pack stock was all about were retiring.
We were at a point in our history that if we didn't do something new, that we became
more of a tool that could be utilized for all kinds of different things, we were going
to be extinct in no time. So then we came up with the idea of The Center of Excellence.
The Region 5 Pack Stock Center of Excellence is an innovative program that honors Forest
Service tradition while addressing current and future needs.
The reason why we are called the Center of Excellence is not that we are going forth
and being excellent every day. It's that we are always trying to be better and we're always
trying to provide the best and most excellent program that the Region can have.
Currently in the Center, we’re available for anybody and everybody in the Region.
We support a lot of monitoring, ecosystem work, rehab projects, fisheries, archaeology,
hydrology, botany, law enforcement, you name it.
Everybody you pack needs camp gear, tents and kitchens. And the science crews, they
have different equipment.
Radio repeaters, solar panels, 14-foot timbers, planking and bridge material.
Metal roofing, windows. It’s a surprise every day.
Two-years ago we packed cutthroat trout out of the back of a mountain.
Fire crews have their whole own rigamarole that goes with them.
The pack stock is a tool for the firefighters.
We get lots and lots of fires in the backcountry, so we need to set up
backcountry spike camps to effectively manage those fires.
We kind of work in good conjunction with helicopters.
But we can go when they can't fly and they’re way more expensive per hour.
We help nonprofit organizations. We help CDF, BLM. We work with Fish and Wildlife Services.
We also do a lot of community outreach.
A couple of times we’ve done the Rose Parade.
The pack strings are a well-known, public face of the Forest Service. Probably one of
the Forest Service’s best ambassadors.
Increasingly, the Forest Service is relying on partnerships and the idea of shared stewardship
to effectively care for our public lands.
There's a huge amount of trails and country out there, and there's 20 of us that’s left out in
the region. And we could nowhere near do it all, but we can do a lot more by packing
in those partnerships and volunteer crews.
We help them steward the public lands. We help maintain the trails so they're safe and
more accessible for the public. And it's a great pipeline for their future employees.
A fundamental focus of the Center of Excellence is mentorship .
One of the greatest things that the Center has enabled us to do is to train the next
generation of stock people and packers.
You’re learning how to tie the knots, you're learning the first aid, you're learning shoeing,
you’re learning and all the things that goes with just basic taking care of the mules.
You're also learning the country, you're learning the weather, you're learning the trail conditions.
All of those things are part of safely getting through the mountains with a string of mules.
I’ve learned a tremendous amount. And having mentors to work with on a daily basis in such
a specific trade is invaluable.
The Center of Excellence is part of the Forest Service’s history and its future.
I feel like we spend the majority of our time productively doing something to better manage
America’s public lands.
We couldn’t do our jobs if the US Forest Service packers weren’t doing their jobs.
If we are to truly care about this place for future generations, we must rely on some of
these traditional basic practices that have proven to be so effective over time.