Shoshone ranger outlines recreation budget, trail partnerships, timber sales and Sleeping Giant plans

Casey McQuiston, district ranger for the Shoshone National Forest’s North Zone, briefed Park County commissioners on recreation operations, trail partnerships, timber sales and restoration work, saying the zone has an operating recreation budget of about $400,000 and hired five seasonal employees this year to reopen and staff campgrounds and manage visitor use.

McQuiston said the Forest Service expects to do roughly 298 miles of maintenance on backcountry trails this summer, relying on a mix of Forest Service seasonal staff, Montana Conservation Corps crews and local volunteer groups. "We were able to hire 5 seasonals and develop rec this year," McQuiston said, adding that partner crews will work on named projects such as Blackwater, Papoose and Timber Creek/Crandall and that volunteers will help on South Fork and Eagle Creek routes.

On timber activity, McQuiston said two timber sales are currently active on the Clarks Fork Ranger District (Dutch Charlie and Tough Creek) with contractors identified in the record, and he previewed a future sale on the Grama Ranger District called Mabel that he estimated at about 1,600 CCF. He said out-of-state operators have shown interest in some sales.

Describing stream-restoration work at Wapiti, McQuiston said the Forest Service partnered with Wyoming Game and Fish and Trout Unlimited to rebuild instream habitat after the 2022 floods by auguring large trees and root wads into banks and adding boulders and gravel. "We feel like it should be pretty secure," he said of the anchored root-wad structures, while acknowledging nothing is absolutely guaranteed in high flows.

McQuiston confirmed the recent sale of Sleeping Giant to HMH Capital (Brent Hargrave) and said agency guidance to the new owner stresses preserving the character of the North Fork Corridor. He said permitted summer activities being discussed include mountain-bike trails (with lift-assisted uphill access), hiking and ropes-course features, but that any additions must "blend with the natural landscape" and meet design requirements the Forest Service will enforce.

On ebikes, McQuiston told commissioners that Forest Service rules treat ebikes as motorized on national forest lands, so ebikes are not automatically allowed on trails designated nonmotorized; permitting ebike access requires a deliberate trail-design decision and public process.

The ranger described the Morrison Jeep Trail reconstruction after 2022 flood damage: the Forest Service partnered with Wyoming State Trails to realign the road away from the river, improve switchbacks (including limited blasting), and expects the route to be passable by the end of summer barring unforeseen events.

Asked about heli-logging for remote areas, McQuiston said the agency has discussed the tactic but the economics usually make it infeasible without subsidy. He outlined wildfire planning work that uses entomologist reports and coordination with Park County fire and state forestry to prioritize fuel treatments in wildland-urban interface zones and described the Forest Service’s use of federal and state funding depending on incident and ownership patterns.

McQuiston said the national travel-management rule was rescinded by the current administration and that the Shoshone travel-management effort is effectively shelved until new federal direction requires reengagement with the public and consistent staff to carry it forward.

Commissioners thanked McQuiston for the report and discussion; no formal action on Forest Service items was taken at the meeting.