Our Mission is Active Wilderness Stewardship.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation was founded in 1996 when the U.S. Forest Service and a group of concerned citizens came together to address the rapid loss of trails in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. By the mid '90s only 1,900 of the original 2,500 miles of trails in the Bob remained, and Forest Service budgets had been cut by 40%.
BMWF was granted tax-exempt status and in 1996 and began its first summer of volunteer projects in 1997. That year the Foundation’s goal was to provide 1000 volunteer service days, but ended the summer logging 2,600 service days (a service day is one day of work by one volunteer). The Foundation has repeated this effort each summer for almost 30 years and BMWF volunteers have cleared and maintained over 10,000 miles of trail. Our crews also work to restore the natural ecosystem by fighting invasive weeds, preventing erosion, and reducing user impacts on the landscape.
As the definition of stewardship has changed over time, so has the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. Since that first summer, BMWF has made strides in expanding our work beyond just “moving dirt”. We now have robust internship and apprenticeship programs that provide career pathways and pass down traditional wilderness skills to new generations. We offer educational opportunities for students and new users to learn the value of Wilderness. We’ve diversified our stewardship opportunities and partnerships to help new communities experience the benefits of time spent in the Bob.
Through these unique experiences in this special landscape, BMWF works to foster the next generation of conservation leaders. All of our crews learn skills to become better backcountry users and take ownership of their public lands through active stewardship. Our hope is that they take their memories from the backcountry back home to become future wilderness advocates, to keep these wild places protected for generations to come.
BMWF works on the homelands of the Amskapi Piikani (the Blackfeet Nation of Montana), the Niitsítapi (the Blackfoot Confederacy), the Séliš (Salish), Ql̓ispé (Pend d’Oreille or Kalispel), and Ktunaxa (Kootenai) tribes. Learn more.
Mission Statement
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation connects people with America’s wilderness heritage by providing access to and stewardship of one of the world’s most spectacular places – Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. We help hundreds of hard-working volunteers of all ages develop a land ethic and give back to the wilderness by opening trails, restoring heavily used areas, maintaining historic structures and fighting weeds.
Active Wilderness Stewardship is our mission.
Our Commitment to an Inclusive Wilderness
Bob Marshall was best known as a passionate advocate for the protection of wilderness, but he was also a champion for the social justice issues of his day. Bob fought for the integration of Forest Service facilities and equal access to public lands in the 1930s. He was a tireless campaigner for the rights of workers as well. Bob fought for programs that would create tangible connections to wild nature for all Americans.
As an organization who bears his name, we aim to follow in Bob’s footsteps. As a committed group of public land stewards, we also stand with those that demand an American experience that is equitable, fair and just.
Through intentional actions we will seek connections with nature for all Montanans and Americans – connections that come from time spent on the lands we all share. We will work to remove barriers for those that have not seen themselves as part of the American public lands story, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color and LGBTQ+ communities. We will explore our own actions, examine our own policies, and facilitate partnerships to help remove the vestiges of exclusion.
Stewardship Through Partnership
Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation was awarded the 2019 Enduring Service Award from the United States Forest Service.
Our primary partner in our work in the US Forest Service. We work with the five ranger districts within three National Forests who manage the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex to identify trail system improvements and create educational and challenging conservation service projects in The Bob. The Foundation then coordinates crew leadership, itineraries, volunteers, food, pack support, tools and equipment to execute the project and reports field accomplishments back to the Forest Service.
We also partner with many organizations, clubs, and schools, of all ages, near and far, to complete wilderness stewardship projects in The Bob. Our primary goal is to provide an opportunity for volunteers of all ages to gain team building skills, learn Leave No Trace principles, become competent backcountry users, and develop a strong wilderness ethic while participating on service projects. Our volunteers leave with an understanding of how our public lands are managed and the work it takes to build and maintain trails, which they take with them on any future trails they explore.