It was Saturday, May 20 and we were feeling lucky to have just missed a big heatwave that rolled through the Pacific Northwest, bringing with it temperatures in the 90s and plenty of discontent amongst Rogue Valley residents who wondered what had happened to spring. In fact, the Rite Aid parking lot where we met our intrepid group of fence pullers was pleasant in the 70s with the promise of even cooler weather as we climbed in elevation. It certainly takes a group of people passionate about the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to be excited about a day of manual labor and this was evidenced by smiles all around as we introduced ourselves.
The project of the day was to remove barbed wire fencing from the Monument in an area around the Green Springs Mountain Loop Trail, directly off of the Pacific Crest Trail. The fencing was most likely a relic of when ranchers would graze their cattle in the Monument before it was designated. Unfortunately, while good at keeping cattle corralled, barbed wire fencing is both an impediment to the movement of wildlife through the landscape and possibly even deadly if an animal happens to find itself caught in it. There still remains over ten thousand feet of barbed wire within the Monument, and it was our task that day to reduce that number.
When we arrived at the trail, we realized that we were not the only volunteers out on a Saturday morning. Also working on sections of the trail was a team of people from Pacific Crest Trail Association clearing fallen trees with chainsaws. John Duwe, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Interpretive Ranger, and Brian Long, the BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner, introduced us to the section of fencing that we would be attempting to remove that day. They also introduced us to our tools: wire loppers and hand saws. We all fell upon the fence with the enthusiasm of people who had not used hand saws in a while and soon became jealous of the chainsaws roaring in the distance. But despite the sun on our faces –it always feels hotter when you’re working hard– and the old, stubborn wood, we succeeded when a pile of trimmed wire and toppled posts accumulated.
However, we weren’t done yet! Paying little heed to the upward slope and brush, we began following the line of toppled –and sometimes buried!-- wire as it blazed a trail up the ridge. Soon, we all began to experience the satisfaction of making quick progress as we cut wire, parceled it up, and passed it along to be carried out to the trucks. While it is known that barbed wire generally does not appreciate being put into any arrangement aside from a chaotic heap, with some gentle persuasion and determination we managed to roll it into bundles that were less likely to take an eye out. This truly felt like an innovation!
After a well-deserved lunch complete with Tate’s Cookies and Santa Cruz lemonade, we decided that a final push was what we needed to complete our task, and complete it we did! When it was discovered that only 100 feet remained we kicked it into high gear and employed all of our hard-earned expertise to remove it in only ten minutes. With this last section taken out, we met up with the progress made by the fence pull last year. It was truly a moment of immense satisfaction.
We all took a last, satisfied look at the loaded pick-up trucks and learned we had removed around 750 feet of fencing that day, along with more than ten thick, wooden posts and many green t-posts. It was a moment to celebrate and we all headed home with the knowledge that we had left the Monument better than when we had arrived.
