Noël Phillips writes in Montana Headwall Magazine, “The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, a nonprofit group with almost 3,000 members, fervently advocates for a permanent wilderness designation to protect the area.” That’s a bit of a side-bar to the real theme of the piece, hiking with a new significant other.
Since she published “Thrill Peakers,” of course, we have surpassed 3,000 Friends, but it’s a fine read nonetheless. Check it out at http://issuu.com/missoulanews/docs/headwallv2i3/45
Our President has declared September as National Wilderness Month. Please take the time to read his great proclamation: http://www.leaveitwild.org/news/2882
Thank you, Mr. Obama.
Stand by!
We are . . . ummmm . . . EXCITED! Check these short films out and you will see why. (But don’t try it with dial-up:-)
http://wildmanpictures.com/page/enpleinairtrailer.html
These two trailers were produced by Wildman Pictures. The movies will done relatively soon.
From the looks of the trailers, we are in for a couple of fine flicks. Thanks to Joe Foster, Jake Glass and Matt Stauble of Wildman for their craft and diligence in moving these projects along.
If you’ve never been into the Scotchmans, it’s a great time to go, and we’ve got hikes. Easy hikes. Hard hikes. Shady hikes. Sunny hikes. Three-day hikes. One-day hikes. Half-day hikes. All-day-and-maybe-part-of-the-night hikes. The FSPW Summer 2010 Hike Series schedule has nine hikes between August 15 and October 2, including a couple that were just posted. Join us for a stroll, join us to learn about compass and maps, join us for an all-out adventure. Check out the schedule and c’mon along into the wildest place you’ve never been.
We are closing in on an exciting milepost in FSPW: our 3000th Friend. We don’t know who it will be, but we are pretty sure we will meet them in August, and it will be either at the Huckleberry Festival or the Bonner County Fair. Will you be there to sign them up?
Read more about it here.
FSPW had a table at the July 31 Yaak Valley Forest Council seventh annual Wilderness Festival, held this year at Turner Mountain Ski Area northwest of Libby. Read the full story here.
In the past three days, FSPW has received $850 in donations from three individuals for the Cinnabar matching grant, which means we will get an equal amount from the Cinnabar Foundation. This brings the total match donations to about $1250.
You, too, can double your fiscal effectiveness — as these generous folks did — by donating now and designating the donation as a Cinnabar match. We’re about a third of the way to the $4000 Cinnabar has pledged to equal.
Thanks a huge bunch to those who have donated so far.
Big Eddy Trail #998 and Pillick Ridge Trail #1036 to Star Peak recently got facelifts during a series of cooperative workdays between the Forest Service and FSPW volunteers. The results? “Awesome,” says Joel Sather of the Forest Service. See the whole story below.
Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and the Forest Service joined forces June 19 in a cooperative workday to do some much-needed maintenance on Trail #65, the route to Scotchman Peak. Seventeen Friends and a six-man saw crew from the Sandpoint District of the Panhandle National Forest vastly improved the trail over six hours of hard work.
Mary Ann Hamilton, Trails and Recreation Director on the Sandpoint District coordinated the Forest Service side of the day, supplying tools, gloves, water, direction and cookies to volunteers. The Forest Service also recognized FSPW volunteers Jim and Sandii Mellen for their efforts on the trail in the aftermath of last fall’s microburst storm that dropped dozens of trees across the trail.
Three young film makers from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, will make their way west in July to film footage for a 20- to 30-minute documentary about Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and the 88,ooo-acre roadless area on the Idaho-Montana border that FSPW is advocating for wilderness designation. To read more, see the story below.
Get out your cameras! Better yet, just put them in your packs. You don’t want to miss that great shot for the 2010 Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness annual summer photo contest. The competition started May 26 and runs through October 5 this year. We have a variety of prizes in several categories, including the new cell-phone picture category. Learn more here.
“Montana’s Troubador,” Jack Gladstone, appeared in concert Friday, June 11, at Riverfront Park in Libby, Montana, courtesy the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. Some 200 folks turned out for a fine June evening of classic Gladstone stories and songs. Jack also entertained the residents of a Libby extended care facility that afternoon.
Gladstone is a Native “PoetSinger” and lecturer from the Blackfeet Indian Nation of Montana. You can visit his website at www.jackgladstone.com
Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness awarded six scholarships to graduating seniors in Bonner County, Idaho and Sanders and Lincoln Counties, Montana. The winners are Olivia Guthrie of Sandpoint, Brittani Wilder of Hope, Amber Kardokus of Heron, Ryan Humphrey of Trout Creek, Thomas Roeder of Troy and Paige Ward of Libby. Read the full story at http://bit.ly/boPQKb
At the May 12 State of the Scotchmans gathering at the Panida in Sandpoint, one of our Friends won a silent auction package containing a gift certificate donated by All Seasons Garden and Floral in Kootenai. On the way out the door that evening, the envelope with the certificate “jumped ship.” The next day, the Friend retraced her steps, but found no envelope.
All was not lost. Someone found the envelope and returned it to All Seasons, where John Hastings, who owns the store with his wife Nancy, sent FSPW an e-mail regarding the returned certificate. Its rightful owner and the certificate are now reunited, thanks to some fine North Idaho folk.
The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness 2010 summer hike series begins Saturday, May 29 with the Blue Creek Snowpack Check. To celebrate a brand new hiking season, Friends will gather Wednesday, May 26, at Ivano’s Wine Bar in Sandpoint beginning at 5:30.
Hike leaders and hikers will have a chance to meet and preview the summer hike schedule over $5 pizzas and beverages. With 14 hikes to choose from, there is a walk in the woods for every one, and anyone interested is urged to come share this fun evening. Hike leaders will be treated to a pizza and their first beverage. See you there!
Looking for a nice long walk in the woods this summer? Or even a short one? Have we got a deal for you. Check out our newly posted 2010 Summer Hike Series There’s a little something for everyone, although, as usual, we are a bit short on “Easy” and “Moderate” hikes. Still, we have 14 hikes slated for folks of all levels of fitness.
We also encourage anyone who would like to be a hike leader, particularly someone wanting to create and/or lead and easy or moderate hike, to contact sandy@scotchmanpeaks.org
Wilderness hikes are good for the soul.
Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and the Forest Service will join forces in a cooperative workday on June 19th to do some much-needed maintenance on Trail #65, the route to Scotchman Peak. We will begin in the trailhead parking lot at 9 a.m., and continue until about 4 p.m. Mary Ann Hamilton, Trails and Recreation Director on the Sandpoint District of the Panhandle National Forest is coordinating the Forest Service side of the day, and will supply tools, gloves, water and direction to volunteers.
Volunteers are welcome for the whole day or just a few hours. This will be a great opportunity for 15 to 20 FSPW volunteers cooperating with a Forest Service trail crew to make a difference on the ground in the Scotchmans. Call Sandy Compton at 208-290-1281 for more information or write to sandy@scotchmanpeaks.org
The annual State of the Scotchmans meeting will be held at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint on Wednesday, May 12, beginning at 6:00 p.m. All Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness are invited to join us for and update on our efforts to obtain Wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks. In addition to music from local artists, a silent auction, a no-host bar featuring local McDuff’s brews and snacks, there will be a showing of “Forever Wild,” an hour-long film that “captures the glory of undeveloped, wild places through stunning images and the passionate tales of America’s modern wilderness heroes – volunteers from New Hampshire to California who work to preserve a legacy of wilderness for all of us to enjoy, forever.”
Plan to join us on May 12 at the Panida for a evening of food, fun, networking and reconnecting with fellow Friends.
The StoryTelling Company, sponsored by Friend of the Scotchman Peaks, will end its 2009/10 winter tale-telling season on Sunday, April 25, with a dinner show at Ivano’s Ristorante Italiano at First and Pine in Sandpoint. The StoryTelling Company features “true and not-so-true tales of the West,” local musicians, The Mystery StoryTeller and stories from Shoreline, Idaho, the mythical “small town on a big river somewhere in central Idaho.”
This is a relaxing evening of family entertainment set to a calmer pace than the rest of the world seems to want us to move at. For reservations, call Ivano’s at 208-263-0211. Dinner starts at 6:00. The show begins at 7:00.
By now most everyone has heard about the legislation recently introduced by Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana), which includes almost 700,000 acres of wilderness. This message to the Friends of Scotchman Peaks will attempt to answer some common questions and provide links to more …
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