Bridger-Teton National Forest

ArrowCorps5/Bridger-Teton 2008

Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming – July 26 to August 2, 2008

Located in western Wyoming, adjacent to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the Bridger-Teton National Forest is one of the largest forests in the United States covering 3.4 million acres. The forest Supervisor’s Office is located in Jackson, Wyoming. Participants will construct mountain bike and hiking trails and remove fencing to allow unrestricted movement of wildlife.

Three separate projects comprise the Bridger-Teton national service project—Teton Pass Trails, Goosewing Exclusion Fence Removal and Dutch Joe Fence Removal.

Signed Bridger-Teton Job Hazard Analysis

Teton Pass Trails
The largest of the three project sites is Teton Pass Trails. Four separate trails--over 11 miles--will be completed on Teton Pass. These projects specifically address the USFS priority of reducing the potential for unmanaged recreation by creating a trail specifically constructed for the growing mountain bike user group and by separating that activity from other uses, such as horseback riding and hiking. Teton Pass is a heavily used recreational area outside of Jackson and nearby National Parks with multiple users competing and interacting. By separating mountain bike users from horseback riders and hikers, the safety and quality of the outdoor experience will be enhanced for all user groups. About 650 participants and staff will be needed to complete the Teton Pass Trails project.

The largest trail will be called Arrow Trail and will be about 5 miles of single track, mountain bike trail. Arrow Trail will provide a great ride for mountain bikers in the Jackson area and will accomplish the goal of separating user groups in an area where there is high demand on existing trails.

A second trail is called History Trail and will be a combination horse and hike interpretive trail. It is approximately 2 miles in length and will follow a historic wagon route through Teton Pass.

The third trail is the Two Towers/Ridge Trail. This trail will be dedicated to mountain bike use and will be built to cross-country mountain bike trail specifications. Two Towers is approximately 2 miles in length and connects two segments of the BPA powerline.

Teton Pass Trails Overview Map
Teton Pass Travel Map
Arrow Trail Map
Big Rocks Trail Map
History Trail
Ridge Trail
Ridge OverFlow Trail

Goosewing Exclusion Fence Removal
The Goosewing project addresses the forest priority of reducing loss of open space by removing manmade barriers to wildlife movement. About 200 participants and staff will be needed to remove the 8,000 feet of the Goosewing Exclusion Fence near the Gros Ventre River and wilderness area. The fence is about ten feet high, made of sheep wire, with a string of barbed wire on top. This area is home to many of the large animals in the Greater Yellowstone Area – elk, antelope, bear (both Black and Grizzly), mule deer and wolves. The fence encloses a very large area and inhibits wildlife migration in the area. The open range is especially important for these animals during the winter months when food is scarce. In addition, the larger available area will improve breeding, birthing, and grazing, and it will reduce the transmission of disease. Unfortunately, with the fences in place, many animals have attempted to jump the fence, become entangled or trapped, and are injured or killed. Removal of these fences will eliminate these risks. The removal of the fence enclosure is a priority for the USFS and other land management agencies in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

The Upper Slide Lake Exclosure is in the core of crucial big game winter range and impedes the movements of elk, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and moose. The exclosure was originally established to conduct vegetative studies and demonstrated vegetation potentials under “no grazing” scenarios. Both enclosures have been breached for an undetermined number of years and no longer provide an “ungrazed” situation. Often, ungulate utilization levels within the Upper Slide Lake Watershed Exclosure are higher within the exclosure. Vegetative studies were discontinued many years ago.

The 360 acre Upper Slide Lake Watershed Exclosure was installed in 1960 by a multitude of Federal and State agencies and academic institutions. Their objectives were to study the feasibility of terracing and planting forage species on dry, southerly exposed slopes of the GrosVentre River. They believed that the southerly exposed slopes were problem sites with low forage productivity and accelerated levels of soil erosion. Today, we accept the high rates of soil erosion as natural, and in fact, the dry southerly exposed slopes contain a unique assemblage of uncommon plants and plant communities. They believed that soil erosion on these slopes was accelerated and caused by excessive wildlife pressure. They conducted experiments such as terracing and planting of different species of grasses and shrubs. In 1968, it was determined that terracing and forage plantings were a failure on these dry southern slopes and the project was abandoned.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest wants to remove the Upper Slide Lake Exclosure to restore the availability of big game range and to allow the free movements wildlife. The project involves removing 10 feet of meshed wire, made from two panels, that extends over 3.5 miles. An estimate of approximately 21,000 pounds of meshed wire will be removed by the end of the project. The best way to accomplish this is by hand and the high number of scouts participating makes this monumental task possible.

Goosewing Travel Map
Goosewing Main Fence Map

Dutch Joe Fence Removal
The Dutch Joe Fence Removal project addresses the forest priority of loss of open space by removing manmade barriers to wildlife movement. About 160 participants and staff will remove approximately 4 miles of sheep wire and barbwire fence, construct about 5 miles of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, and build about 500 yards of a natural log and brush "debris barrier" to protect a Colorado Cutthroat trout stream bank from trampling damage by livestock. Fence removal is in remote locations so FS personnel will utilize pack mules to haul old wire out of the woods.

Dutch Joe Travel Map
Dutch Joe Project Map

USDA Forest Service - Bridger-Teton National Forest
Last Modified: Thursday, 26 June 2008 at 20:26:28 EDT