As part of a large push to cut back on federal spending, at least 360 U.S. Forest Service positions in Montana are being eliminated. This has impacted other organizations that work directly with the Forest Service, including the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex includes the Great Bear, Bob Marshall, and Scapegoat Wildernesses, encompassing than 1.5 million acres. The Flathead National Forest manages the largest portion of this Wilderness Complex. It is the third largest wilderness complex in the lower 48 states. They are managed by three national forests - Flathead, Helena-Lewis and Clark, and Lolo; and five ranger districts - Spotted Bear, Hungry Horse, Lincoln, Rocky Mountain, and Seeley Lake.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation helps the Forest Service maintain the wilderness through organizing volunteers to help with trail maintenance, campsite restoration, and other habitat restoration projects, relying on the Forest Service for guidance.
Clifford Kipp says, “We need folks at the district level to help us guide our work. And so depending on the positions that are lost, we may or may not be able to scale up as much as we would like to. Volunteers will never fill the gap for the skilled professional trail workers or land stewards that were employed by the agency.”
With layoffs at all five ranger districts that manage the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, especially impacting trail maintenance crews, the foundation is reorganizing their priorities.
Kipp says, “If there are no longer trail crews, or trail crews are not spending as much time on the trail system, then maybe more mainline trails will require help from volunteers.”
While there may be more opportunity, and need, for volunteers, organizing those trips requires funding.
Kipp explains, “I think there might be a misconception that like, that's free. It's not. In order to deliver volunteers in the field and do the work that we aim to do, there's a cost associated with that as a cost to, you know, hire the crew leaders and put them through training, and make sure they're all geared up.”
Over half of the foundation’s anticipated funding is frozen, and with the uncertainty of the Forest Service’s resources, the foundation has postponed the release of their summer volunteer schedule, holding roughly 40 volunteer projects until priorities can be identified.
It is still uncertain how much of the Bob Marshall Wilderness will be impacted by the Forest Service layoffs, but the Bob Marshall Foundation is restructuring and adapting to continue their efforts maintaining the Bob.
Kipp says, “We would not be pursuing our mission if we didn't do everything we could to put some amount of volunteers on the ground.”
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation will be hosting its Mountainfilm on Tour next month, and all proceeds will go towards benefiting the foundation’s trail maintenance and habitat restoration projects. For more information, click here.
