The Recreational Aviation Foundation recently approved a grant to help with the maintenance of Red’s Wallowa Horse Ranch, which is within Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness, administered by the US Forest Service.
There is no road to the 1,600-foot airstrip, so access is only by aircraft, foot, or horseback, RAF officials note.
“This location is attractive for remote camping and hiking, and fishing on the adjacent Minam River can be particularly rewarding,” said RAF’s Oregon Liaison Richard Mayes.
Concerned that without mowing, the airstrip could become unusable and likely lost to future use, he was recently awarded an RAF grant to mow the 1,600-foot airstrip and tackle brush removal.
Because the airstrip is situated within a designated Wilderness Area, mechanized equipment is prohibited. For the past several years, a volunteer has trailed in livestock and non-motorized equipment to undertake the mowing. This dedicated, 82-year-old volunteer will continue to participate and provide the equipment, but Richard has organized additional help, RAF officials report. A new “mule driver” will take up the reins under the watchful eyes of the seasoned veteran.
Hand tools will be used to remove hawthorn and brush infesting the airstrip and the camping areas. RAF Ambassador Bill Ables will coordinate the mowing with US Forest Service representatives, who are currently managing manual weed control efforts.
“It takes most of a day to mobilize and walk the mules and gear into Red’s,” Richard observed.
He added he hopes the mowing can be completed in one day, but a hot day could vex the mules and slow things down, followed by another day to trail everything back out.
“The project also demonstrates our willingness to collaborate with USFS and to donate our time, money and labor to protect backcountry access,” Richard said.
See RAF’s airfield.guide for more details about Red’s Wallowa Horse Ranch.
I suspect you’ve just run head on into the wonderful world of greenie politics where charismatic elected officials so unbelievably ignorant of reality actually believe islands can capsize if too many people set foot on them and giving money to politicians can really change the whole world’s climate. These worthies pass moronic laws about subjects they know nothing about causing the rest of us to suffer the unintended consequences. You might as well grin, bear it because there’s no cure for stupid and remember; thousands of even dumber people not only voted for them but keep reelecting them.
Maybe I am overlooking something obvious, but if noisy airplanes are allowed to operate in this location, why couldn’t a motorized mower be used once per week to keep the grass/weeds under control? I can envision one of the wealthier users of this strip flying in on their PC-12 or Caravan with a small riding mower that could make fairly short work of the mowing job. That surely would not be noisier and more disturbing to wildlife than the airplane would. Would it? Is there some other issue I am missing? Please educate me. (Is the prohibition on motorized devices designed to allow wildlife to escape before being harmed by the equipment, perhaps?)
Flying one in might be OK – it could be no one has the equipment or has ever pursued doing that. We don’t know.
I have flown in 2 twice, in cessna 152 in the past! No problems on flights!