By ARNIE WILKENS, Vice President PBCH
Panhandle Back Country Horsemen (PBCH), established as a chapter of Back Country Horsemen of Idaho in 1984, is comprised of all volunteer horsemen and horsewomen and is dedicated to keeping open and maintaining National Forests, State Forests, and State Park trails for public use.
Certified by the USFS for the use of chainsaws with a focus on safe cutting and certified CPR and AED use, the volunteers provide a valuable service to the community. Presently membership totals about 50 people with about 20 certified cutters and 10 new members awaiting training and sawyer certification.
After tough winters in North Idaho, we all know about the tangled mess of downed trees blocking access to our favorite trails. Whether used for hiking, biking, mushroom or huckleberry picking, horse back riding or just plain meandering through our forests, trails blocked by fallen trees often ruin our best plans for an enjoyable outing.
PBCH also repairs bridges, installs hitching posts at various trailheads, and sprays for noxious weeds.We repaired the corals at Farragut State Park and installed a metal welded hitching post.
At Line Creek campground near Red Ives, PBCH moved and rebuilt feed bunkers, installed high lines for horses, and repaired other structures.
In May PBCH will participate in a three-day training and trail clearing project with the Priest River chapter. Both chapters will work out of a campsite at Reynolds Creek. It will be an old-fashioned rendezvous for exchanging ideas, sharing training tips, and, of course, clearing trails.
All our chapters rely mostly on volunteers, with minimal dollars coming from USFS. ISI
For more information and /or donate visit our website at PBCH.org.
