MONTANA WILDERNESS VIDEO RELEASED

Schafer Meadows, 8U2 is in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness, and maintenance is handled non-mechanically. A video has been released of the ongoing runway work, featuring a team of mules, the use of a vintage grader, a Fresno scraper, and a sickle bar mower. 

RAF Liaison Scott Newpower helped coordinate the project with then-District Ranger Deb Mucklow, who directed USFS funds toward the purchase of the mule team, and MPA Past President and RAF Supporter Pete Smith donated and refurbished the McCormick-Deering mower. MPA/RAF volunteers disassembled it and flew it into the airstrip and reassembled it. Resources for this runway grading project also came from a portion of the $750,000 annual allocation toward USFS airstrip maintenance that the RAF helped secure.

“Many thanks to District Ranger Scott Snelson, Schafer Meadows station manager Jeremy Rust, mule team leader Guy Zoellner, and backcountry legend Fred Flint for their efforts, valuable advice, and great collaboration,” Newpower said.

The 15-minute video was filmed and narrated by USFS retiree Fred Flint and his wife. The couple volunteers at Schafer each summer. The video was released by the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. 

Submitted on March 29, 2022.