Volunteer for Conservation

Volunteers in the Backcountry

Choose from day hikes or backpacking trips across two spectacular Wilderness Areas in the heart of the Norhern Rockies. Join us for 3-5 day backpacking trips into the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness: traverse the Continental Divide Trail, take in the high and rugged peaks, cirques, glacial moraines, and pristine lakes and streams. Or, join us for a day hike or 2-day backpacking trip across the Welcome Creek Wilderness in the stunning Rock Creek drainage. Volunteers will learn about wilderness management, invasive species, native plants, monitoring methods and the natural history and wildlife of these Wildernesses. See our flyer for more information.

Welcome Creek Day Hikes and Backpacking Trips**

• June 22, Cinnamon Bear Lookout Day Hike (Sat)
• June 23, Solomon Ridge Day Hike (Sun)
• July 6-7, Solomon Scramble and Welcome Creek Traverse (Sat-Sun)

Anaconda Pintler Backpacking Trips**

• June 27-June 30, Bitterroot Headwaters and Beyond (Thurs-Sun)
• July 11-15, Mystic and Hidden Lake Adventures (Thurs-Mon)
• July 19-21, Peaks and Passes of the Pintlers (Fri-Sun)
• Aug 1-4, Alpine Lakes and the Continental Divide! (Thurs-Sun)
• Aug 8-11, Mount Tiny and Lamarche Creek (Thurs-Sun)
• Aug 15-18, Anaconda Wrap-Up! (Thurs-Sun)

**Trip routes may change. Contact us for route details and the latest information.
Backcountry experience is helpful but not necessary. Dinners are provided daily, and transportation is available from Missoula as well as selected towns in the study vicinity. Volunteer sign-up begins May 20th, 2013.

To sign up call or email: Wilderness Institue University of Montana (406) 243.5361. Funded in part by the National Forest Foundation and the USDA Forest Service.

Project Summary

The Wilderness Institute organizes a citizen monitoring and restoration project during the summer field season.  This is a partnership project involving local community volunteers, the Forest Service, and the University of Montana.  Community volunteers work with field leaders to monitor selected elements of wilderness character, conduct recreation site inventories, and carry out restoration efforts in backcountry areas.  In the last eight years, this program has worked with over 300 volunteers to conduct monitoring and restoration in seven Wilderness Areas and all seven of Montana’s congressionally designated Wilderness Study Areas.  Project outcomes include detailed inventories of wilderness character, invasive plants and recreation sites; treatment of invasive species and restoration of native plants (through hand-pulling); information on key vectors of weed invasion and longer term trends in vegetation change; and increased agency and community capacity for citizen stewardship of public lands. The Wilderness Institute’s community-based monitoring generates relevant monitoring data for forest managers and interested community members, and helps ensure that public values are integrated into the collection and interpretation of such data, and ultimately into subsequent management decisions.

Wilderness Character Monitoring

The purpose of monitoring wilderness character is to improve wilderness stewardship by providing managers and the public a tool to evaluate how wilderness character is changing over time and how stewardship actions affect this change in wilderness character.  Both the Wilderness Act of 1964 and Montana’s Wilderness Study Area act (1977) require that land management agencies maintain wilderness character in these areas as it existed at the time of designation.  In collaboration with local NGOs, community groups, and Wilderness Study Area users, in 2009 the Wilderness Institute partnered with the Forest Service to monitor wilderness character across all seven of Montana’s congressionally designated Wilderness Study Areas (Sapphire, Blue Joint, West Pioneer, Ten Lakes, Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn, Big Snowy Mountains and Middle Fork Judith River).  The resulting monitoring reports are available here>>

The Wilderness Institute’s citizen monitoring program will implement this program in designated Wilderness beginning in 2013.  More information on wilderness character monitoring is available from the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and at Wilderness.net.

For more information, to sign up, or to be on the Wilderness Institute’s citizen science

Email citizenscience@cfc.umt.edu or call 406.243.5361

To learn more about Montana's Wilderness Study Areas, visit www.wilderness.net.

Learn more about the Citizen Science program>>