warning bulls in pasture

“warning bulls in pasture-sign on gate-interloken trail fingerlakes national forest-A percentage of the flnf is pastureland rented out to farmers during the summer-A number of the trails have sections that go through theese pastures-I have gotten used to going through the gates and hiking past the cows with my dog-but the last two summers theese signs have been on the gates-they dont tell you to stay out -but I have been hesitating to hike theese sections--is this common in other national forests-would you hike through theese sections ??”

“i would hesitate to go thru the pasture if bulls are in there. Those guys move pretty fast. Is the pasture too big to go around the fenceline?”

“the pastures are quite large-there are some really nice views from them-ive wondered why the forest service does not let some of them revert back to forest-for some reason they want to keep some of the open areas in grassland-I walk trails there this time of the year that dont go through them-sometimes I do when the cows are down the other end-”

“just wear tight knickers, a funny hat, and a red poncho.”

““just wear tight knickers, a funny hat, and a red poncho.”
sacco
11:49:08 AM
6/20/05
ignore this user

That or were a clown suit and carry a barrel.”

“Grazing on national forest land is common in Idaho. It is usually not fenced pasture though. Just open range.

For the bull, just hike with someone you can out run.

Allowing it to revert back to forest: clear spaces, meadows, pastures, what ever you want to call it, is a natural part of many forests. In fact much of the wildlife depends on these open areas for survival. We have a situation in central Idaho where what was once the largest elk herd in the U.S. has been cut to a fraction of what it used to be. One of the major causes is the disappearance of these open spaces. I am not sure the meadows know the difference between a bovine and a wapiti. Fire suppression and a change in the dominant species of tree have filled in the meadows with trees and big brush. Open space in the forest can be a good thing.”

“where profitable for the rancher and returning a good fee to the owners of the land (namely American citizens) is OK.

In many cases, it seems this practice amounts to a taxpayer giveaway though where the costs of allowing grazing is greater than any revenue received and in these cases over time, the range should be more ideally returned to and used by the native wild animals so maintaining a more wild condition.”

“the forest service makes money with this arrangement-but the hikers pay too by not using sections of trails if they want to avoid encounters with bulls-probably 30 percent of flnf is pastureland-I think to let some of it revert back to forest would not be detrimental-does anyone know of any other national forests with this much pastureland?-another deal has been the struggle to keep the land from the interests that want to drill for nat. gas-”