Five hardy souls will be watching the leaves change color from 9,000 feet above sea level this autumn. The Summit Trail Crew will be working the 32 mile-long trail in the Santa Rosa mountain range, many of those miles winding through areas scarred by the Hanson Fire. Over 12,000 acres in Humboldt County burned in the August 2012 fire, one of three wildland fires that scorched northern Nevada this past summer.
Wes Hoskins, Forest Project Coordinator for Friends of Nevada Wilderness, has been working with the Forest Service on the Santa Rosa Ranger District for five years. Wes will be supervising the crew, who will be in the field until the end of October.
“It’s a really popular area for hunters and stock users in northern Nevadans and visitors from bordering Idaho and Oregon towns too. It needed some love even before the fire hit,” Wes said. “This crew is full of experienced trails workers – some were on the Toiyabe Crest National Recreation Trail with us over the summer – they can fix just about any maintenance problem they come across.”
The five-member crew is funded in part by the Secure Rural Schools Title II Resource Advisory Committee of Humboldt County, as well as the National Forest Foundation.
The Santa Rosa Range extends approximately 75 miles across northern Nevada, with peaks reaching elevations over 9,700 feet above sea level. Mountain lions and bobcats chase bighorn sheep and mule deer through sagebrush and stands of aspen, and lower elevations provide habitat for sage grouse.
For more information about the Santa Rosa Range and other wild areas in Nevada, visit www.NevadaWilderness.org.
