That Time We Drove And Fixed Things
The hitch two range team, Asher Hudson and Jared Renaud, camped in the town of Leadore to work directly with Leadore District Range. We worked on two projects: building fences at Lemhi Pass National Historic Monument and monitoring fences in the Timber Creek allotment.
SCA members worked at Lemhi Pass with Forest Service employees from Leadore as well as Salmon Cobalt and Beaverhead County in Montana. Lemhi Pass is located on the border between Idaho and Montana and straddles the Continental Divide. It is historically significant as the site where Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide and where Sacajawea helped make peace between Lewis and Clark and the Shoshone. SCA members helped the Forest Service build both electric and barbed wire fences that will protect the monument from overgrazing. By working together with such a large crew, we got a lot of work done for the monument and we had the chance to meet Forest Service employees from different departments and regions. We also learned about the history of the monument from members of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and saw what Meriwether Lewis called “the most distant fountain of the waters of the mighty Missouri,” which in the Lemhi Pass is a stream so small you can stand astride it.
After we finished at Lemhi Pass, the SCA range crew set out by ourselves to monitor fences in the Timber Creek Allotment. Our job was to make sure the fences were accurately mapped and note any damage to the fences. In order to get to the fences we had to drive down a strong contender for bumpiest road in Idaho in a giant pickup, hike for miles, cross creeks, and go up and down steep scree slopes. Along the way we saw meadows filled with wildflowers, butterflies, and herds of grazing cattle. You learn quickly in range that walking alongside a fence is rarely as simple as it sounds, but that’s what makes the job fun. Once we got to the fences we mapped them using a GPS unit and took photographs to document their condition. At the end of the hitch our feet are tired, but we are happy with the work we have done for the Leadore Ranger District.