Northern Region Pack Train & Dakota Prairie Grasslands Pack a Crowd at Rough Rider State Park

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Several dozen civilian spectators assembled at Roughrider State Park early on Saturday morning, June 14, 2025, to experience a bit of history as the USDA Forest Service Northern Region Pack Train (NRPT) visited the area for the first time in over a generation. 

The NRPT is based at the Ninemile Ranger District in the Lolo National Forest, and its mission involves backcountry packing projects, public education, and community service. A pack team consists of two Forest Service staff members, known as animal packers (also referred to as handlers), two riding horses, and eight mules. The handlers utilize a team of mules to transport materials into remote areas that are not accessible by vehicle, operating throughout Montana, northern Idaho, North Dakota, and northwestern South Dakota. The team undertakes seasonal missions from mid-May to October, focusing on the region, with each project lasting less than a week.   

The team's mission was to transport building lumber and materials into the Little Missouri National Grassland to be used in building a bridge across Bear Creek and installing trail markers for the Cottonwood-Bennett Trail over the following few days.

For approximately 90 minutes, the pair of proficient packers shared with the audience details about their roles in facilitating projects throughout the region. They displayed their tools of the trade, which included the animals and a variety of riding and packing equipment. The handlers regaled the audience with a demonstration of how they strapped (packed), and secured canvass-wrapped boxes filled with hand tools and project materials to the octet of industrious animals. Some mules were also laden with two eight-foot-long six-by-six pieces of timber (one on each flank), using a special attachment called a lumber bunk that both secures and balances the lumber load. 

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Next, the handlers each roped four mules together in a string and tethered the cluster to their respective horses. Mounting their steeds, both equestrians set off on a leisurely stride, leading the mules around the wowed crowd to illustrate how they traverse the backcountry terrain.

Subsequently, Robin Connell, Pack Team Manager, engaged and educated the impressed assembly with a question-and-answer session. He fielded queries about the Pack Team's projects, procedures, and its long, illustrious history, as well as its continued importance to the Forest Service, even after nearly a century had passed. Connell noted, "The historical use of stock helped to build the infrastructure in use today. All of this country was discovered on foot or via horse."

Once the event concluded, the spectators milled about the area, with some charmed children daring to approach the mules for an up-close look and to politely pat a fuzzy muzzle. Meanwhile, others took a moment to meet the two packers, asking a question or two or simply offering a cordial thank you and a handshake. Slowly, the crowd dispersed under the noonday sun, and the two packers began preparing for their upcoming mission, set to begin the following day. 

Profiling the Leaders of the Pack

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Robin Connell, Northern Region Pack Team Manager, worked seasonally with the USDA Forest Service at Payette National Forest and Glacier National Park before picking up the full-time position as the Northern Region Pack Train Manager with the Nine Mile Pack Team in July 2021. Connell states he learned the ropes with several outfitters over twenty years ago. Outfitters offer guided outdoor recreational experiences like hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and backcountry adventures. 

Regarding working with newer, greener packers, Connell mused that "all equine problems are people problems; so, it's more about figuring out the person and seeing what they need to grow and be better about their skill set in regard to packing. The human and animal relationship are deep and complex, and you have to dedicate time to it." He states most people spend a lifetime learning how to be a better stock handler. 

When asked about any major challenges he experienced during his years of work in the field, he stated that there were no problems but rather learning events. "If a situation comes up, you use critical thought to evaluate it. You can teach somebody 100 different ways to do things, but until they're in that moment, they actually have to utilize it will make a difference." 

Connell states he enjoys the work. "The big part is I get to see a lot of amazing country and travel to some of the most beautiful parts."

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Nashville, Tennessee native John Leader has worked as an Animal Packer with the Ninemile Pack Team since 2023. Leader earned a degree in Political Science and History from Appalachian State University in North Carolina in 2015 and intended to take a gap year; however, he jokes that the degree "made me think too much and want to go out into the woods." After completing an internship with the wildland rangers in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota, he took on various assignments in both the Forest Service and private organizations, where he learned packing and horseback riding and landed a position at Ninemile. 

Leader states an important on-the-job growth opportunity is "being aware of horsemanship and just being a better herdsman. There is no ceiling on that, and it is one of the most rewarding and frustrating challenges of this job. You can always do better with animals. Each time you think you've got something figured out you're just bumping into the next tier knowledge. If you're up for it, it's going to be a positive challenge." He added, "When you're packing, it's like, you're bonding with your animal or with the trail crew you're with. You're all in that situation and its one common goal and working toward it is rewarding."

Considering the big trials in the field, Leader recalls instances where freak weather events, such as microbursts (sudden thunderstorms or wind events), come out of nowhere. "It's kinda' fun because you don't have any other option. It's like, well, alright, we're all in it together… let's put our noses down and get this work done."