Forget llamas, goats or horses, says the Bureau of
Land Management. Burros are better for packing equipment into the
backcountry. That’s the message the federal agency is trying to get
across to baby boomers, says Tom Taylor of Mesa, Ariz., a volunteer
who takes his burro, Hualapai, to community events to talk up the
adopt-a-burro program. The prospect of weight-free walking led
Taylor to bring a burro home 10 years ago. Since then, he’s trained
Hualapai to carry his equipment on hundreds of miles of trails,
including the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand
Canyon.
Arizona has nearly 3,000 wild burros,
says agency spokeswoman Dorothea Boothe, and to keep herds from
overrunning available public land, the agency works hard to
encourage adoption. Private owners must guarantee a good home;
bidding starts at $125 and Internet adoptions are possible. Visit
the Web site at www.blm.gov/whb/internetadpt.html You can also call
the BLM in Phoenix at 623/580-5500.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Take a load off.
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