The Elk Foundation has lost a stubborn supporter. But Bernie always was a little odd. Between his unusually large ears, copious body hair and unfortunate habit of slamming others into fences, he tended to stand out in a crowd. Some may have called him an ass, but they were only half right.

	Weed warriors Paul Cohen and Bernie the Mule treat yellow toadflax in Colorado’s Flat Tops Wilderness.

“Invasive plants are one of the largest threats to our wildlife habitat,” says Pearce. “They know no boundaries.” According to the Weed Science Society of America, invasive plants infiltrate another 3 million acres every year in the United States. In the West, species like spotted knapweed, Canada thistle, leafy spurge and yellow toadflax degrade the integrity of our wildlands.

In wilderness areas, treating weeds is generally limited to spraying from the air or spraying by hand from heavy backpacks. Aerial spraying only provides 50 percent control, with many weed patches tough or impossible to reach. Backpack spraying is cumbersome, requiring arduous labor for the few weeds exterminated. A 4-gallon backpack sprayer can treat less than one‑tenth of an acre. Pearce and McClure knew there had to be a better way.

Aided by Dale Vance from Champion Box, they constructed a pair of prototype panniers, each consisting of an aluminum frame with a corrugated plastic insert. A pair of recycled 5-gallon soda canisters strapped into each pannier, a carbon dioxide tank and a hose with a spray nozzle complete each unit.

But would Saddle Light hold up under rigorous backcountry use? Here’s where Bernie the mule stepped in. A homely fox trotter mule of uncertain age who “never slipped, never bumped a tree,” Bernie was chosen to test Pearce and McClure’s new invention.

“We would go to a brushy hillside and try to tear the sprayer up, and we did tear up a few,” said Pearce. “There were a couple of times we would have had a wreck with a flightier animal.” Bernie’s common sense and surefootedness allowed testing to proceed wreck‑free.

After much labor by mule and men, the Saddle Light prototype was deemed functional. Grants from the Elk Foundation and others aided further development, production and additional weed treatment projects. Since then, the Natural Resource Conservation Service has offered Saddle Light to land managers and private individuals, and so far they have sold 125 units across eight states. With the capacity to treat half an acre, Saddle Light provides an efficient way of treating noxious weeds in the backcountry with a minimal amount of physical labor and little impact on the land.

“The real benefit of the Saddle Light sprayers is the ability to attack the small patches in the backcountry,” said Marques Munis, a Colorado State graduate student who worked with Pearce and Bernie for four summers. “You have that chance to catch an infestation before it blows up,” he says.

Sadly, Bernie passed away during the summer of 2006 after more than 20 years with the Forest Service. On yet another weed spraying mission, he collapsed after making his way up a steep section of trail, and despite Munis’ efforts to resuscitate him, Bernie never got back up.

“At least he didn’t die in a patch of yellow toadflax,” says Munis. “It was a beautiful spot with lots of wildflowers.” Even with his last step, Bernie was working with all his heart to enhance elk country.