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BOB MARSHALL WILDERNESS FOUNDATION BY THE NUMBERS
300 to 500
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS PER YEAR
100 to 200
MILES OF TRAIL CLEARED AND MAINTAINED PER YEAR
40
AVERAGE NUMBER OF TRIPS PER YEAR
$400,894
LABOR VALUE
OF WILDERNESS STEWARDSHIP IN 2015
$96,600
LABOR VALUE PROVIDED BY VOLUNTEER PACKERS
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Fred Flint, with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.
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bene ting from well-organized volunteer work, under the leadership of Executive Director Carol Treadwell.
Planning begins during winter, when foundation Program Director Rebecca Powell reaches out to each ranger dis- trict to determine which projects will need assistance. She then creates a cal- endar of trips varying in length and dif- culty, and recruits volunteer packers, including many a liated with the Back Country Horsemen of Montana. Because volunteers are held to the same standard as Forest Service employees, and the wil- derness designation stipulates exclusive usage of primitive tools, like crosscut saws, the foundation also arranges for safety and tools training.
“It would be a tremendous loss to us to not have the volunteers supporting Forest Service and all the districts in the Bob Marshall Complex,” Mucklow said. “We’ve gained so much on-the-ground work, but now we also have a whole net- work of folks that appreciate the wilder- ness. We’re really proud to have the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation as a partner. It makes a big di erence to us.”
In its rst iteration, the foundation focused on reinstating trails too neglected for use, but “more and more, we nd our- selves being asked to do routine mainte- nance—just because the Forest Service doesn’t have the money,” Flint said.
Forest Service crews start major clear- ing work on mainline artery trails in the beginning of the season. Foundation trips focusing on lower-impact clearing work
on these trails continue through the sum- mer, which ts the skillset of many volun- teers who don’t have extensive, special- ized training like seasonal employees. Flint, Koss, and Mucklow emphasized that volunteers don’t need to have trails experience before coming on a trip, and that organizers expect varying levels of ability. Volunteers must simply be will-
ing to work hard and expe- rience the backcountry.
“Your objective shouldn’t be, ‘Can I give them the big- gest blisters out there?’” Mucklow said. “It’s, ‘What’s going to make them come back, then next time maybe they can go twice as far?’”
The foundation is also striving to go twice as far, with expanded wilderness stewardship e orts beyond trails work, including site monitoring, wetland pro- tection, and noxious weed management. It also rolled
out new initiatives aimed at giving a new generation the skills to care for wilder- ness. An intern program hosts a crew of college students for the summer while they complete trail projects and learn about careers in natural resources. This year, the foundation debuted a new pack- er’s apprenticeship, which will facilitate the transfer of traditional skills that make work in the far reaches of this enor- mous wilderness possible.
To support this growth, the foundation fosters a local community of donors with seasonal events like Voices of the Wilder- ness, a live storytelling and music event in November; Beers for the Bob gather- ings at local watering holes; and a Moun- tain Film Festival with stops in Great Falls, Helena, and the Flathead Valley. It also generates income through grants, products like license plates, and the Great Fish Challenge, a community fundraising project that matches donors’ dollars.
And though foundation sta has already made greater strides in fundrais- ing than Owen and the rst generation
of Bob Marshall Wilderness volunteers might have imagined, its current leaders recognize that the next great frontier is purposeful and creative development.
The foundation recently hired its rst outreach coordinator, Margosia Jadkow- ski, to explore new venues for funding and connect with a broader community of donors and wilderness lovers. Taking a page from Marshall’s book, she hopes to make the case that wilderness mat- ters to and needs support from everyone, even those who may never step foot in the complex.
“This is a place that belongs to all of us,” Jadkowski said. “I want to help every- one to see what their role in the founda- tion could be. Even if they’re not physi- cally able to go on a trail project, or maybe they just don’t have the vacation time, or they have kids, or trail work sounds mis- erable to them, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be a part of the work that the foun- dation is doing to protect, care for, and love the Bob.”
clare@ atheadbeacon.com
AUGUST 3, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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