-
Tony Prendergast makes his horses work for their oats. -
Prendergast, a seasonal ranger for western Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest, has spent much of the past six summers with his saddle-clad sidekicks – Calypso, Molly and Ruby – hauling about 8,000 lbs. of trash out of the remote West Elk Wilderness Area. -
The old camp stoves, shredded tarpaulins, abandoned food caches and even an antiquated toilet are mostly the erlics of historic hunting camps. -
As a lifelong hunter, rancher and Outward Bound environmental educator, Prendergast makes for a rare blend. he spends the hunting seasons visiting hunting camps and teaching about ‘leave no trace’ practices, such as hitching horses to a ‘high-line’ strung between two trees, a technique that keeps the animals from trampling roots and strangling tree trunks. -
‘Each year I am out here, I see some changes among hunters and outfitters,’ he says. ‘[The traditional hunter community isn’t usually steeped in a wilderness ethic. But they are starting to get it – some of them anyway. And that makes the job worth it.’
Backcountry Ranger
A Photo Essay (click through photos on slider above).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Backcountry Ranger.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
