I’ve seen plenty of signs of destruction by pack animals over the years in the north cascades, bitterroot, and frank church wilderness areas. They’re animals and when corralled at night they tear up the ground. I always thought this conflicted with the leave no trace policy of wilderness areas but also recognized that they are an approved mode of transportation in these areas and not everyone is able bodied enough to backpack in to enjoy the wilderness.

I’m sure the folks who use pack animals consider their footprint to be relatively minor and not an undue imposition on wilderness users. Funny that there seems to be less understanding of my momentary noise signature when using my aircraft to lawfully access wilderness airstrips. One activity leaves what is often a multi year scar on the land, another leaves no scar and is gone in less than a minute.

I’ll leave with a picture from Shearer from last summer. Despite plenty of signs signifying the airstrips presence and signs specifying no free range grazing, I was greeted by this herd. Guess there’s bad actors on both sides, if there even is a side at all.

So...as far as I know the horse herd at Shearer is associated with the trail crew that's based there. I've never been to Shearer without seeing the horses being let onto the airstrip in the evening. Regular users, myself included, erect an electric fence around our airplanes to keep them from becoming scratching posts for itchy horses.

It's been that way for as long as I've been going there...I never questioned anyone in authority about it.

Side note...I met a guy who flipped his airplane there, and both he and I assumed that the horses would be used to pull the airplane out of the middle of the runway. Not so...I guess horses have to be trained to pull things or it spooks them. In the end he cut several dead trees, and with a lot of time and effort was able to get them under the airplane and then roll the airplane on the logs until it was off to the side of the strip.

It is quite possible that it’s been going on for some time as I saw plenty of hoof prints all over the vicinity of the strip. For what it’s worth the horses and mules were tame enough and stayed away from the aircraft on this occasion. I can say that there certainly was no trail crew around the three days I was there and no one was letting them out or using the corral during any part of the day. Never saw them the year before.

Any way you cut it it’s contrary to the posted signs on the strip. As you pointed out, itchy animals could do a lot of damage so it seems pretty obvious why the rule is in place.

denalipilot wrote:So... the cover story in the apology letter is 'we didn't know where we were' but the cover story according to eye-witnesses was 'we're below the high-water line'???

That would further their argument.
Land below the high water line is not owned by the landowner bordering a waterway so they might have thought the horsemen were the landowners.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

I am a river rafter. Property boundaries do not stop at the high water mark. I am pretty certain it is true throughout the west, you can float over the top, but cannot anchor or wade. Many court battles in the subject.
I don’t see the high water mark having any relevance except for perhaps damage to the ground.

StillLearning wrote:I am a river rafter. Property boundaries do not stop at the high water mark. I am pretty certain it is true throughout the west, you can float over the top, but cannot anchor or wade. Many court battles in the subject.
I don’t see the high water mark having any relevance except for perhaps damage to the ground.

It certainly has no relevance in designated Wilderness, which this was.

But, the law regarding the area below ordinary high water is very complex, and generally includes the bottom and any seasonally flooded gravel/sand bars.

MTV

Well, bottom line is that the horses are legal there and the helicopter isn't. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I must admit that I am surprised at some of the responses.
JH

One more random thought to toss into this discussion, when snowmobiles and motorcycles are caught in a wilderness area, the policy used to be that the machines were confiscated and sold. If that is still being done, that helicopter is worth a lot more than a snowmobile.

I come from a riding family. So I appreciate the Zen. But from my dirt biking and back country flying experience I know there are some horse people who don’t believe in sharing. Exclusive would describe the attitude. Landing in wilderness is bad for everyone. But beware of horse people, particularly, the feral horse lovers or “wild horse” advocates. They resent motorized vehicles unless they are in them. Don’t give them any opportunity to screw with you. Mike

The perpetrator pled guilty to a misdemeanor trespass, and was fined $500, which is the maximum monetary fine allowed under federal law for a misdemeanor. There was no physical damage, so no damages charged.

The individual's name has been well "advertised" in the media, which is probably much more of concern to this individual than the fine.

MTV