R -openin the Florida ational Sc n1c rail and Juniper Run in Juniper Prairie ilderness by Susan Jenkins, USDA Forest Service, Nez Perce National Forest Foreword by Michelle Mitchell, USDA Forest Service, National Forests in Florida eaders of LandViews learned about and natural processes make mechanized some of the most unique and protected the monumental hurricane recovery equipment inappropriate. habitats in Florida. Despite the dangerous efforts underway on the 1,400-mile Juniper Prairie Wilderness is located in conditions posed by hundreds of downed Florida National Scenic Trail in the January the Ocala National Forest just east of the trees along the trail and in the waters of the 2005 issue. At the time the article was city of Ocala, Florida. Visitors experience run, the team was tasked with devising a written, hundreds of miles of trail were the area by hiking approximately nine safe plan that would not require the use of closed due to heavy downfall and flooding. miles of the Florida National Scenic Trail any motorized or mechanized equipment in Since that time, volunteers working with through pine flatwoods, prairie and scrub accordance with the values detailed in the the National Forests in Florida and the habitatsand then enjoying a cool canoe Wilderness Act of 1964. Florida Traii Association have donated trip down the seven mile section of Juniper The team was highly successful. Not over 16,000 hours of labor to the effort. Run that flows through semi-tropical only were the Florida National Scenic Working in conjunction with Forest Service forest. Unfortunately, hurricanes Charley, Trail and Juniper Run safely reopened, but crews, these volunteers have re-opened Frances and Jeanne each caused severe traditional tool skills that were instrumental all but approximately 40 miles of trail damage to both the trail and run within the in the settlement of Florida long ago were located on or near Gulf Islands National Wilderness. rejuvenated and found to be just as useful Seashore. Most of the recovery work was In November of 2004, the National and relevant today as they were in our past. completed along sections of the trail where Forests in Florida requested assistance The following article is a first hand the use of chainsaws and other mechanized from wilderness and traditional tools account and interpretation of the effort as equipment is appropriate, but some work experts throughout the Forest Service. written by recovery team member Susan took place in Juniper Prairie Wilderness An assessment team was assembled to Jenkins, a Wilderness Ranger from Idaho where special protection measures designed determine the best and most sensitive who came to Florida to participate in the to safeguard Wilderness values such as approach to re-opening the Florida National work. solitude, primitive recreation opportunities, Scenic Trail and Juniper Run through Idaho Days later we are jumping out of canoes It is July. Every day we work higher into into swamp muck to our chests. We are too the mountains. Camp is struck at daybreak. cold to rest during the day. Methane gasses Hundreds of trees have uprooted, blown bubble up and the stench is ... interesting. over and rotted following huge wildfires in Our frustration mounts when saws bind the 1990's and early 2000's. Logs are sawn, repeatedly as embedded sand in both oak chopped and rolled out of the way as we and bay trees dull the cuttingteeth. In the wind our way up the mountainside and out middle of the run the tension and binds of the river canyon, gaining altitude with within the trees change as the current pulls every step. Mules carry our camp and heavy the limbs back and forth as we saw beneath gear; by evening we have gained fifteen the surface. We can't even saw into the hundred feet in elevation. Another three days palms as the pith repeatedly pinches the and we will reach the lookout tower three steel. The finely sharpened edges of our axes thousand feet above us. It is 85 degrees, and chip and ring as they strike the downed oaks covering the trail and waterways. At the the air is dry and light. As we saw and chop our way through logs and heavy brush we end of the day we have traveled less than a drink tons of water but scarcely break into hundred yards. But this is a unique chance a sweat. Our tools are sharp, there are few to see the amazingly different country. insectsand monotony begins as the crosscut There is no doubt that this is a beautiful saw swings back and forth in a constant and unique place. As we travel from one rhythm. Many of us have been fooled into end of the wi ldemess to the other, we thinking this steep country is tough and hard. encounter a landscape shifting from smal I ponds and lakes to swamps, runs, and Florida prairies. Vegetation varies as this complex At top, from the left, begiinning on opposite page: January comes in cold and damp on the countryside changesfrom hardwood to Ian Barlow and Fred West prepare to move heavy Florida National Scenic Trail and the Juniper longleaf islands historically shaped by materials with rigging equipment while a crosscut saw rests in the foreground. Springs Canoe Run. Both are found in the fire. The Juniper Canoe run is canopied by Historic photo of crosscut saw filer taken in Florida Juniper Prairie Wilderness on the Ocala live oaks with Spanish moss hanging from their branches. As we work to clear the Ian Barlow and Amy Norton saw underwater to National Forest. It is a different world remove a downed tree from Juniper Run. waterway, alligators and water moccasins here. The mornings are freezing but the Clearwater National Forest Animal Packer Jim West become a daily happening that takes a while day quickly warms. Walking along the enjoys a rare undamaged portion of the trail. to get used to. Tick checks at night and the tall grasses, we are soaked with sweat. Ian Barlow teaches crosscut saw technique to Florida The 75-degree weather feels stifling, and chiggers and mosquitoes are biting every Trail Association volunteers. the humidity soaks us as though we are warm evening. Historic photo of workers reopening juniper Run breathing under tepid water. It is not even after a hurricane. hot or reallyhumid yet. All historic photographs used with the permission of the continued on page 40 State Archives of Florida. continued from page 39 down that blocked trail access. In four of traditional tool use. Crosscut saws, months, volunteers from the many different axes, and rigging equipment such as hoists chapters of the Florida Trail Association and winches figured strongly into logging Different and incredibly beautiful. (FTA) had cleared most of the trail. Bridges, operations, road and trail construction, and Many of us work between two large boardwalks, and campsites were cleaned the building of structures. The Wilderness wildernesses encompassing three million and repaired. Act requires the use of non-motorized acres with one, gravel road between them. The nine-mile section of the Florida means in designated Wilderness except But this country becomes more valuable Trail within the Juniper Wilderness called in fire emergency, law enforcement and as there is so little left. You have so many for some creative thinking and problem­ medical emergency situations. We tried visitors and there is not much wild land solving abilities. This is the only section to develop an educational context and remaining .... How do you plan and deal of the Florida Trail that passes through recovery plan that allowed for the work with the management decisions needed to a designated wilderness affected by the to be_accomplished safely and efficiently preserve something so unique? It is easy for hurricanes. Trail users, volunteers, and while fully meeting the directives of the Act. any of us to see why people come from as land managers realize that the Juniper In other places, we sometimes far away as Venezuela and Germany to be a Prairie is a rare setting in Florida's National encounter resistance to the use of hand part of the Florida Trail Association's efforts Forests. And, like the wilderness areas tools as a means of accomplishing routine to work in this wilderness. in the western states, a different type of trail maintenance and restoration work. management approach is called for. The Many people believe that chain saws and use of traditional (non- motorized) tools has motorized rock drills are the only effective Understanding Traditional Tools been a keystone for managing wilderness means for opening and reconstructing since 1964, when the Wilderness Act mountain pathways. Our work has been was enacted. One of the most positive viewed in a different light in Florida. u�door enthusiasts and winter 0 outcomes of its passage is that certain As we visited with hikers from Florida h1 kers are aware of the destruction skills that may have vanished have been and all over the world while cutting the hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jean and Ivan kept alive. This is one of the benefits of hiking trails, we were overwhelmed with inflicted on nearly all segments of the wilderness. the positive responses. People told us how Florida National Scenic Trail (Florida Trail). Some individuals believed that using important it was to know that traditional in October, after the last of the storms traditional tools would not be a viable hand tool skills are still alive. Many quickly had passed, it was estimated that 80% of alternative when reopening the impacted developed an emotional connection to the the 1 A00-mile Trail was either closed or trai Is and canoe runs.