Ban on chainsaws in wilderness
Sawmill Fire Swamper Chainsaw Cut 2026 | Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center
Description:
On June 19, 2026, a U.S. Forest Service wildland fire module was assigned to the Sawmill Fire near Cedar City, UT. The module was tasked with securing the fire’s edge and cleaning up ladder fuels to keep the fire out of the canopy. A saw team module, consisting of one sawyer and two swampers, moved steadily from tree to tree, limbing junipers while carefully managing each branch to keep it from dropping into the hot duff and subsequently dragging heat out into the “green” side of the fireline.
During one of these operations, the sawyer was cutting through a juniper limb, planning to continue directly into the next one. The swamper stood opposite, holding both limbs—one in each hand—to control their fall. As the saw finished the first cut and transitioned toward the second, it struck the swamper’s left thumb. The injury was immediate and severe.
The injury required eleven stitches for temporary closure. Future surgery will be required to repair tendons that were also severed. The expected recovery period is from six to eight weeks.
Sawmill Fire Swamper Chainsaw Cut RLS
Description: On a clear spring morning in the mountains of northern California, a group of C-Evaluators and U.S. Forest Service Regional Saw Program Managers were gathered for the final day of a national saw workshop.
After sizing up the tree, the faller verbalized the elements of the OHLEC process (a standardized five-step safety and risk assessment framework for tree felling) to the two evaluators. His plan was to take the tree straight downslope (aligned with the primary head lean) into an open lay. He would utilize a double Humboldt face cut using a Stihl 500i chainsaw equipped with a 28-inch bar. The bole of the tree had a distinctly oval shape with the long axis oriented parallel to the slope.
The faller fired up his saw and completed his initial cuts without issue. After knocking out the “pie”-shaped section and cleaning up the face cut, he elected to perform a boring cut straight through the hinge and into the center of the tree. His intent was to remove wood from the middle of the tree to ensure that he had adequate bar length to complete his planned double back cut from the uphill side.
First, the faller verbalizes his intent to “bore the guts” to the evaluators. He then steps downslope in front of the tree, lifts the powerhead and throttles up the saw. As he begins his boring cut, his right hand holds the throttle handle with a palm-down (pronated) grip. His left hand is located near the lower corner of the handlebar with a slightly supinated grip. The kickback occurs almost immediately.
The bar swung back and slammed into the sawyer’s right shoulder.
National Chainsaw Workshop Kickback Injury RLS
Good evening, Please see the following Lessons Learned Center release regarding two saw injuries that happened recently; one due to kick back and one occurring to a swamper. Please review these with your crews and modules to highlight the risks/hazards associated with some chainsaw operations along with some lessons shared by those involved in these events. Thanks and please reach out if you have any questions.
Mountain bike enthusiasts have been working for years on an ambitious 485-mile, multi-use trail called The Velomont that will span the length of the state.
When finished, the collaborative project will knit together existing trail networks, connect 27 communities and include huts and hostels for overnight stays.
New trail construction is finally ramping up after years spent on permits, plans and public input. And organizers say they want to make it as user-friendly as possible.
“For us, it’s not a huge lift to just be mindful when we’re trying to build trail or improve trail to think about the adaptive rider,” said Angus McCusker, the Velomont trail director with the nonprofit Vermont Huts and Trails.
“The challenge,” said McCusker, “is we’re connecting to existing trail networks that were never intended for adaptive bikes. So, where we can, we’re trying to do adaptive assessments.”
Louis Arevalo of Essex Junction is one of several adaptive athletes helping with that, most recently on some slightly overgrown single track trails in Randolph, a central Vermont town nestled along the eastern edge of the Green Mountains.
Arevalo pedals with his hands. He rides an electric powered recumbent-style three-wheeler that sits low to the ground. His service dog Azul chases along nearby.
“Once you realize what these bikes are capable (of) or this equipment actually opens up, it kind of blows your mind,” he said.
Arevalo was paralyzed in a skiing accident six years ago. Being able to get back on the trails has been a game changer, he said smiling.
“There’s a reason we live in the Green Mountain state. It’s because we like to get outside…you know, seeing the squirrels and chipmunks and birds… I mean, it’s life.”
But adaptive rigs like Arevalo’s are wider and heavier than regular mountain bikes, and not all trails are user-friendly.
“It’s helpful to have different kinds of adaptive bikes on these tests because they all handle a little differently,” he said.
Bennette is executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, another nonprofit spearheading efforts around the Velomont. He and others involved in the assessment are taking detailed photos and notes on ways to make the trails more accessible.
“Just scalloping out a bit of material on the outside of that corner,” said Bennette, pointing to the area the bike got caught. “That will allow adaptive bikes to make that corner without really changing the way the trail rides.”
But adaptive rigs like Arevalo’s are wider and heavier than regular mountain bikes, and not all trails are user-friendly.
“It’s helpful to have different kinds of adaptive bikes on these tests because they all handle a little differently,” he said.
Bennette is executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, another nonprofit spearheading efforts around the Velomont. He and others involved in the assessment are taking detailed photos and notes on ways to make the trails more accessible.
“Just scalloping out a bit of material on the outside of that corner,” said Bennette, pointing to the area the bike got caught. “That will allow adaptive bikes to make that corner without really changing the way the trail rides.”
Jeff Alexander is counting on it. He’s director of strategic partnerships with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities access outdoor recreation.
“So the adaptive community has money, they travel, they want to travel and they want to play with everybody,” Alexander said. “We just need to level the playing field so that everyone can play together.”
In May of this year, the Salmon-Challis National Forest (SCNF) authorized limited use of gas-powered chainsaws to clear 542 miles of specifically designated trails in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Use is limited to the next three years, starting this summer, from January 1 to August 1 of each year, and is limited to users approved by the Forest Service. This work was authorized through a document called the Minimum Requirements Analysis, which you can read about here. Right now, this work is mainly being done by permitted outfitters operating on the Forest.
As a boots-on-the-ground, volunteer-based organization, ITA’s primary focus is on getting trail maintenance done on the ground. When we learned of the chainsaw authorization, our first thought was of our twelve planned projects on the Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2026, and which trails approved for chainsaw use overlapped with our schedule.
This means we need to coordinate closely with outfitters to ensure we know where they are operating saws. Our number one priority is well-organized projects with meaningful, safe, and fun work for volunteers, work that contributes to making trails more accessible for the public. It’s more important than ever to communicate with both SCNF personnel and outfitters as we tackle the projects planned in that area this year. ITA will continue to use non-motorized/non-mechanized tools to accomplish this work in designated wilderness areas.
ITA is focusing on being proactive and communicating up front with the Forest Service and outfitters. Where a trail is planned for clearing by chainsaw, as was the recent case with the Marsh Creek Trail, ITA will assess the site to determine if it is still suitable for a good volunteer project. In the case of our recent Marsh Creek project, the answer was “yes”. The Forest Service trail program lead met our crew on the trail for a weekend of removing large boulders and root wads, brushing and improving tread, all work vital to keeping this trail navigable. We will follow this process for future projects and determine if the work remaining is meaningful and suited to volunteers or if the project is best moved somewhere else.
In the short term, as trail season winds down and after hunting season is over and outfitters are out of the backcountry, we plan to participate in Forest Service and partner meetings to review the first year of this program and identify successes, ask questions, raise concerns and discuss challenges and opportunities to improve coordination between partners and the FS and implementation of the MRA itself with its present requirements and allowances.
Over the longer term- the next three years- ITA will advocate for a long-term solution that recommits to the use of traditional tools as the way to keep trails open in the wilderness.
We will urge Congress to pass adequate funding for both Forest Service staff and partners. The Forest Service needs to restore the right positions in the right places to coordinate and support work by partners like ITA, conservation corps, and outfitters working in their respective areas.
Paid, full-season trail crews are needed. The public land trail system is a national treasure, with tremendous recreational value in today’s times. Recreational value translates to economic value for communities as well. We need trail crews to do all the work – cutting, brushing, tread work, bridges. ITA has proved people value trails; our volunteers worked 16,614 hours on trails in 2025. We are able and willing to learn the wilderness skills to maintain trails. But at the core, we need full-time, skilled Forest Service crews with years of experience to fully utilize volunteers and fully support less experienced paid crews. Over the long term, we need crews on horses and mules or with backpacks, carrying axes and crosscut saws – not chainsaws.
This decision has sparked intense debate. We feel use of mechanized equipment should be the exception to standard wilderness tools and should only be used in emergency situations. Yet, while we look ahead to a future where trails can be maintained using traditional tools, we also must focus on a present where there are hundreds of miles of trails in desperate need of work, from log out to tread repair. We must focus on our role as an on-the-ground organization, dedicated to working with other partners and the Forest Service to get vital work done this season. We care deeply about wilderness and about the traditional tools and skills that have been part of maintaining backcountry trails for decades, and we value our relationships with partners because this will always be a team effort. We will continue to speak for wilderness values while maintaining relationships with our partners, for the good of trails.
Sincerely, Melanie Vining, ITA Executive Director
Federal land agencies want to know how many people are hiking, camping and sightseeing on public lands — and are testing dozens of pilot projects to get better data.
Traditional methods for tracking recreation numbers include trailhead surveys or vehicle counters. But those techniques don’t capture all visitors, especially in less popular areas.
Last year, Congress passed the EXPLORE Act, a package of measures to boost outdoor recreation access as record numbers participate in outdoor activities. It also directed agencies to study new visitation monitoring methods.
Federal agencies including the Interior Department followed up in late June by announcing dozens of pilot projects to evaluate some of the latest techniques. Some are new projects, while others are studies that have already been completed.
Many of the newer methods fall under the category of “digital mobility data,” said Spencer Wood, who directs the Outdoor Recreation and Data Lab at the University of Washington.
Several of Wood’s studies were included in the list of federal pilot projects, such as ones that analyze aggregated call phone data and public social media.
“They post a photograph that says they are having a great time mountain biking – that’s useful information,” he said. “We can observe that by looking at the content of images that people share publicly on social media platforms, or we can understand people’s activities by looking at the way they write a trip report.”
Another option that Wood has studied involves tracking how many people participate in virtual citizen science projects on public lands. Federal agencies say these innovative approaches are promising but need more studying.
Examples of projects to study outdoor recreation visitation:
- Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah): Researchers from Pennsylvania State University will use cellphone location data to estimate visitor patterns at Bryce Canyon National Park. They will compare it with data collected in the field to estimate the relationship between park entrance numbers and visits to specific sites.
- Forest Service visitor surveys: The Forest Service will analyze visitor surveys to better understand recreation that isn’t well monitored, including backcountry skiing, snowmobiling and rock climbing.
- Salmon River (Idaho): A previous study along the Salmon River used game cameras to count boats and people floating the river, along with automatic counters to track vehicles heading to the river.
Wood said analyzing all the projects could help inform federal land management decisions.
“That might involve questions about what type of infrastructure do they build, where do they improve roads, or where might they improve parking, or where might they work on trail development?”
The federal government is accepting public comments on the pilot projects through July 29.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting