ACT.NOW!
The Helena National Forest proposes to Expand Motorized Routes along the Continental Divide. Send your comments by January 15th!
MWA's 6th Winter Walks Snowshoe season starts January 3, 2009. See our Winter Walks page for program details and a PDF of the schedule. Also, each snowshoe walk description can be found by date on our Events Calendar. Also, the Island Range Chapter - Walks kick-off is Thursday January 8, 7 pm at Central Christian Church, 1025 Central Ave, Great Falls.
The Helena Independent Record and The Great Falls Tribune both featured the Montana Wilderness Association Winter Walks program recently. See all the details on our News Articles page.
Don't Wait 25 More Years for Wilderness, guest editorial - Great Falls Tribune, by MWA Executive Director Tim Baker.
The Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project 'packed-in' over 100 people at a recent meeting. See The Missoulian for more.
U.S. Senator Jon Tester congratulates MWA on 50 Years of “fighting for a Montana way of life.”
The perfect Holiday gift The Helena Area Hiking Guide written by Cedron Jones. The book is a fundraiser for the Helena Outdoor Club and the Wild Divide Chapter of MWA.
The Montana High Divide Trails YouTube features 54 hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders who built a "sweet" new Quiet Trail.
The MWA State Council has a PowerPoint touting the positive values of wilderness. We need volunteers to help us share it. Please contact Doug Ferrell or call 827-4341 for details.
Visit our Events Calendar - includes local, chapter and state-sponsored events. Come and join in the fun!
This year we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of America’s longest quiet mountain trail—the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. On Nov 10, 1978, President Carter signed legislation designating the 3100-mile Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
The “King of Trails” was the dream of Wilderness Society founder Benton Mackaye. In 1966, Mackaye handed Interior Secretary Stewart Udall a four page memo outlining his concept: “Of Wilderness Trails and Areas: Steps to preserve the original America.”
In his 2003 book, Benton Mackaye: Conservationist, Planner and Creator of the Appalachian Trail, author Larry Anderson, noted that Mackaye envisioned a great wilderness trail along the spine of the Rockies “connecting national parks, national forests, national monuments and federally designated wilderness areas between the borders of Canada and Mexico.”
Twelve years later –Congress designated the 3,100+ miles Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDNST).
But the great Trail—and its chain of mountain wilderness—remains unfinished. In Montana --the Continental Divide Trail traverses TEN outstanding wild areas "Recommended for Wilderness" by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service. These recommendations await congressional action.
MONTANA’S GREAT DIVIDE
For 800 Montana miles the rugged Continental Divide twists north from Yellowstone to the Canadian line. Streams and rivers teaming with trout arise in wilderness and untrammeled wildlands along the spine of Montana’s Rockies—a last refuge and corridor for free-roaming wildlife, including grizzlies, wolverine, lynx, elk and mountain goats.
Along Montana’s high and rugged divide, you can still follow the ancient hunting trails of the Salish and Nez Perce, retrace the path of Lewis and Clark or walk in the fresh tracks of the grizzly.
Montana Wilderness Association volunteers have worked these past decades to ensure that the Continental Divide Trail remains true to its purpose and potential as America’s longest quiet mountain trail. Today Montanans are creating new quiet trail and wilderness partnerships such as Montana High Divide Trails.
Email John Gatchell, MWA Conservation Director for more information.
Montana Wilderness Association ~ 50 Years of "Fighting for a Montana Way of Life"
Our mission: Work with communities to protect Montana’s wilderness heritage, quiet beauty, and outdoor traditions, now and for future generations. Our vision: A future in which pristine public lands in Montana are permanently protected as federally designated Wilderness.
See more about how MWA is still making a difference after five decades.
