Cyclists from around the world join forces to aid park rangers in Nepal

This Nov. 15, adventure riders from around the world will join the Rally for Rangers Project to bring desperately needed motorcycles and outdoor equipment to park rangers battling poachers in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

Two of those riders, Josh Morin of Niwot and Asher Woolverton of Broomfield, will represent the Boulder area among volunteers from Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Germany, Denmark and Lebanon.

The Rally for Rangers Project began in 2013 when Robert Mcintosh, a former U.S. National Park ranger, volunteered with the Mongol Ecology Center at Lake Hovsgol National Park. While they were reviewing the park’s planning documents the park’s chief ranger, Enkhtaivan, got a call over his radio reporting an illegal campsite discovered on park lands nearby. Mcintosh watched in dismay as Enkhtaivan jumped on his motorcycle and tore off in pursuit — only to have his bike immediately break down.

When Mcintosh asked him what had happened, Enkhtaivan told him their outdated bikes broke down all the time, hindering their ability to keep up with illegal poachers, miners and campers across the vast territory they’re tasked with protecting.

As a former park ranger himself, Mcintosh understood Enkhtaivan’s frustration and promised that he would not only buy Enkhtaivan a new bike when he got back to the states, but also ride it more than 1,000 miles across Mongolia so he could personally deliver it to him.

Now in its fifth year, Rally for Rangers recruits roughly 30 motorcyclists from around the world each year to raise $10,000 for a new bike and drive it to remote national parks for delivery. So far, the project has donated 75 motorcycles to nine national parks in three countries. The trip to Nepal will be the group’s first for 2019.