It doesn't necessarily have to be wilderness but it often is," said Animal Packer Katy Bartzokis. The mules are part of the ...

An curved arrow pointing right. Pack mules still have a role in the digital age. The US Forest Service uses them to supply wildland fire crews in the remote areas of northern California.

Despite a three-step verification process—a registration tag on the mule, a license of the owner, and a microchip inserted into the pack animal—unregistered and unaccounted mules are easily ...