Missoula Area Wilderness Forum

The Missoula Area Wilderness Forum is a group of wilderness professionals working in research, education, management, and advocacy who meet regularly to discuss current wilderness issues, exchange information, and coordinate Missoula-based wilderness activities. Participants include the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute; the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center; the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks; the University of Montana Wilderness Institute; Forest Service Northern Region; Professional Outfitters and Guides; Montana Wilderness Association; Wilderness Watch; the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit; the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation; and the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

The Missoula Area Wilderness Forum was established in 1997. Over the years, the group has addressed a range of wilderness related proposals, management issues, and research projects, including Forest Service planning for Wilderness; the role of professional outfitters and guides; dams in Wilderness; fire research; wilderness monitoring; the Interagency Wilderness Policy Council and the Pinchot Report on Wilderness; the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Wilderness Manual; a proposal for a Professional Wilderness Stewardship Organization; wilderness restoration research; the World Parks Congress in South Africa; 40th Anniversary activities; research and wilderness work in Alaska; outfitting policy; and the role of the National Forest Foundation.