Spanning the Idaho/Montana border, the Scotchmans are one of the last, and largest, wild areas in our region. We conduct education, outreach and stewardship activities to preserve the rugged, scenic and biologically diverse 88,000 acre Scotchman Peaks Roadless Area. We believe the Scotchman Peaks deserve congressional designation as Wilderness for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations.

Monthly Archives: January 2010

Star Peak: a “new” name for an old mountain — and a great hike

January 28th, 2010

First, and at the risk of turning this into a product review, let me first say that the Lightning Ascent snowshoes from Mountain Safety Research are a bit pricy, but boy, do they work well. Last Sunday, mine got their first workout as I accompanied Susan Drumheller, Brad Smith, Bev Newsham and Cabell Hodges on [...]

Posted in Blog |

Wilderness Workshop

January 25th, 2010

Recently, 35 active volunteers including our board and staff came together to attend a Wilderness Workshop.  Our primary goal was to increase our ability to work with effectiveness and enthusiasm both individually as well as a group.
The half day session was intense but enjoyable. A Wilderness Workshop can take many forms and formats.  For the [...]

Posted in Blog |

American Hiking Society will hike to the Hill

January 21st, 2010

The American Hiking Society (AHS), which is hosting a hike in Washington, D.C. in February (http://bit.ly/6rUFvf), is a group that shares many of our sensibilities as Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.
Besides having a killer logo (I wish I had designed it), I admire this group because they are, again, like FSPW, moderate in their approach, [...]

Posted in Blog |

Congressman Rehberg Gets an Earfull

January 18th, 2010

This last Saturday, January 16th, Congressman Denny Rehberg held a “listening session” to hear public comments on Senator Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” which would establish over 670,000 acres of Wilderness in Montana.   Over 200 people showed up at the Libby High School, and the Congressmen head from both impassioned supporters of the bill [...]

Posted in Blog |

Congressman Rehberg Listening Session Sat

January 15th, 2010

This Saturday, January 16th, Congressman Denny Rehberg will be holding a public meeting to take comments on Senator Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” which would establish over 670,000 acres of Wilderness in Montana. This “listening session” will take place at 3pm to 4:30pm in the Ponderosa Room at the City Hall in Libby MT.
This [...]

Posted in Blog |

Good news for bull trout is good news for land dwellers, too.

January 14th, 2010

By Sandy Compton
The news today about the expansion of  bull trout habitat (http://bit.ly/6jWqUj)  is good news for fish and good news for humans, too. A government agency which under the Bush Administration had been reluctant, at best, to enforce laws it is supposed to is signaling a new era has begun within its ranks. Thursday, [...]

Posted in Blog |

Happy Anniversary!

January 14th, 2010

Five years ago today, on January 14th, 2005, a group of concerned citizens from Idaho and Montana gathered together in a centrally located living room, crowding couches and spilling onto pillows around the floor  to chart the course of what became the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.  Happy 5th Year Anniversary!!
Working with a passion and [...]

Posted in Blog |

Audience Supports Scotchmans Wilderness at Thompson Falls Chamber Meeting

January 3rd, 2010

A room full of hands signaled support for the Scotchman wilderness, after a presentation to the Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce on December 18th. No one signaled opposition to the project. Two people abstained and commented they wanted to learn more about the proposal.
Presenter Doug Ferrell reported the group asked a lot of questions and [...]

Posted in Blog |