Thursday, May 31, 2007

Trimming Back the Nasty Stuff

This goes out a bit late, but kudos to the fine volunteers who have trimmed back poison oak on the South Yuba trail in the past month. These people include Mike Haire, Dave Lawell, George Maier and others. This time last year, the trail was badly overgrown with the nasty stuff, enough so to make it unusable to many of us. But now it is in great shape. Thanks guys!

I've been encouraging other trail users to bring clippers and folding saws with them on their hikes and rides. Local offices of federal land management agencies have seen budgets for trail maintenance staff slashed this year. Thus it is up to us to make up the difference.

On my rides, I carry a pair of cheapo hand clippers and this Felco folding saw. This saw is amazingly effective at trimming anything up to 5-6" thick. I've pruned back a lot of manzanita on trails near Osborne Hill in the past few months.

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