April/May 2010 Flower photo by Rhonda Lee
COMPLIMENTARY!
TAKE ONE!
Vol 26 No 4
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[Photo by B. James Jokerst]
Fred Flint And The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation By Gail Jokerst If you like the idea of living outdoors 24/7, find energetic volunteer work appealing, and enjoy seeing tangible results from your efforts, look no
farther than The Bob Marshall Wilderness for your next adventure. Thanks to the grass roots The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation (BMWF), opportunities abound for individuals, families, and groups to donate time and muscle power to help support activities in the 1.5-million-acre region. According to the foundation’s president, Fred Flint, each year some 300 volunteers participate in more than a dozen projects. Chief among these are restoring campsites and historic cabins; keeping noxious weeds from spreading; and maintaining trails tread on by humans as well as horses. Last year alone, volunteers improved some 350 miles of trail throughout The Bob, as the area is often referred to by its many fans. “These trails are critical. If you don’t have them you don’t get where you want to go. Bad
trails make traveling a lot more difficult. If you’re hiking, you can scramble, but if you’re on horseback they’ll stop you,” cautions Fred, who makes his home in Columbia Falls. “You can go so much farther on a well maintained route that’s not brushy.” Whatever the project, BMWF supplies the tools, camping equipment, food, and even the backcountry riders to pack volunteers in and out and transport supplies. All that volunteers need to bring is their personal gear plus a willingness to work for one to ten days in a region that by anyone’s standards would qualify as remote. This pristine landscape, which stretches eastto-west from Choteau to Lincoln and north-to-south from Glacier National Park to Seeley Lake, is one of Montana’s ten officially designated wilderness areas. That means no wheeled vehicles - except hand-powered wheelchairs - enter its boundaries. “The Wilderness Act protects against motorized and mechanized vehicles so people can enjoy a more primitive type of recreation on foot or horse only. If you do take in a non-motorized wheelchair,” adds Fred, “it requires two or three good friends to help. These trails are narrow, steep, and rough. The Bob is a wonderful (Continued on page 49)