Forest Service Region 5 Pack Stock Center of Excellence?

[Pat Holscher]

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/packstockcoe/home

First time I've seen the "center of excellence" moniker used outside the Army.

And I didn't know the Forest Service had a pack animal program of this type in Region 5, which I think includes California.

[FtValleyPS]

Pat, Region 5 of the Forest Service is California, and this pack string works within that state and in some adjacent states. There are similar strings in other FS regions like on the Shoshone NF in Wyoming (Region 2, used to be out of Edwards, CO), in Montana out of the Nine Mile Remount Station, there's one on the Gila NF in New Mexico, plus a few others here and there. As you know, there used to be many more, but they're long gone with the disappearing stock skills in the Forest Service. And that's what has caused the increase in "centers of excellence" nationally in the FS for everything from stock use to trails management and to other short-budget resource management areas.