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Conservation’ History Makers

Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame to honor its first inductees
Category: Community | | 2 min read

The history of the conservation movement is often a hard one to tell, because it’s as much a history of what didn’t happen – a history of the mines and dams that didn’t get built or the logging and drilling that didn’t occur – as it is a history of what did happen, such as the creation of national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas.

“There are no cornerstones to the dams that didn’t get built,” says Jim Posewitz, author and conservation giant in his own right.

As a result of all the destructive projects and practices the conservation movement has achieved in preventing, much of its history has gone untold. With a desire to tell this history after speaking at the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet, Posewitz quietly went about creating the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame, a venue for honoring the bright lights in the conservation movement who have ties to Montana.

 

Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame

The Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame will honor the first class of 12 inductees at a banquet on December 6 at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena.

The Outdoor Hall of Fame honors both the posthumous and living who have made significant and lasting contributions to the restoration and conservation of Montana’s wildlife and wild places. “From territorial legislators, to activists in the 1930’s and 40’s, all the way to the present date,” Posewitz says. The award not only serves to recognize Montana’s historical and contemporary conservation leaders but also serves to capture their stories – so they may become part of Montana’s history.

The Montana Wilderness Association is one of seven conservation organizations and state agencies that have come together to sponsor the Outdoor Hall of Fame. Three former MWA council presidents – Cecil Garland, Doris Milner, and Gerry Jennings – are included in this year’s inductees and will be honored at the banquet on December 6.

Garland is being honored for, among other achievements, spearheading designation of the Scapegoat Wilderness.

Milner is being honored for her work expanding the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area and for her work towards the designation of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the nation’s largest.

Jennings is being honored, Posewitz says, for “her continuing vigor in trying to extend the wilderness ethic to younger generations” and for “showing up anytime wildlands need to be protected.”

Other inductees include Granville Stuart, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles M. Russell, Lee Metcalf, Don Aldrich, Bud Moore, Thurman Trosper, Ron Marcoux, and Chris Marchion.

Partners involved in the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame include the Outdoor Legacy Foundation, Montana Historical Society, Montana Wildlife Federation, Montana Wilderness Association, Montana Trout Unlimited, the Cinnabar Foundation, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Reservations for this event cost $50 per person, which includes dinner and the evening program. For more information and to make reservations, visit mtoutdoorlegacy.org.

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