Forest Service Plans To Blow Up Aspen Cattle

lol What will our goverment think of next?

It appears some open range cattle near Aspen didn't make it down from 11,000 feet before the snows and froze to death in a cabin.

The Forest Service is worried the bodies will contaminate a hot spring down stream so they plan to blow up the corpsicles in the wilderness area.

Wouldn't it be best to just have nature take its course and let the bears and coyotes feed off the bodies?

They can strip a carcass pretty fast, especially after hibernation.


2 other possible explanations: boys will be boys and they want to blow up a cabin and its occupants.
Hikers might get offended if they see melting cow carcases.

One spring I was hiking in the Lost Park wilderness area and came on a scrawny bull who had survived the winter. Must have been pretty tough.

I asked a retired forester what he thinks. I will post if he replies.

My thought is that if contamination is a factor, make an exception to the combustion engine rule and drag them away. In the big picture that would be greener than a helo.

I just found out reading up more on this story that firefighters in wilderness areas aren't supposed to even use chainsaws or bulldozers. Seems a little extreme, but I guess the normal policy is to let wilderness fires burn themselves out.

Conundrum Hot Springs is a difficult hike for many people. Access can be limited, especially during the Winter and Spring periods. I can see why the Forest Service is a little stumped on how to handle the situation. I think they (the Forest Service) should pull the carcasses from the cabin and let nature do the rest. The cabin is an old hot spring shelter that is historical. The cows should simply be relocated to a nearby location away from the creek.

Sad loss of meals on the hoof. Why not get a couple of chains and some come-alongs to move the cows out of the structure? AlpineMike has the right idea, there are plenty of animals that will eat what they can and time will do the rest. Blasting the cabin seems a bit extreme to me, especially considering it has already been recognized as having historical value.

Much to easy AlpineMike. It makes sense. And why the USFS won't follow it.

SAVE THE CABIN

Got Beef?

Worse, the beef will be contaminated with bits of exploded cabin...

Now is this really a good thing to be considering? What about fire? What about wind carrying fire? Ok so they think they are far enough away. Have they learned nothing from the Lower North Fork Fire? Oh yeah, I forgot it is the USFS. They are infallible, until they are not.