The 1.5-million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is a wilderness sanctuary marked by an intricate maze of trails through rolling mountains, historic alpine burn areas, dense forests of tamaracks and limpid waters.  

On an August afternoon, the trails are lined with thimbleberries, huckleberries and raspberries ready for harvest. Fireweed flurries as the wind passes through the burnt stands.  

Due to its remoteness and wildness, the area requires manpower to put work in for the sake of recreation. It’s a testament to the land’s wild nature and the importance of backcountry work, executive director of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation Clifford Kipp said. 

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, in partnership with the United States Forest Service, is behind the initiative.  

I arrived at Beaver Creek Campground, nestled 10 miles from the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, on a Tuesday afternoon to join a volunteer crew with the foundation. Just steps from Beaver Creek and just southeast of the Hungry Horse Reservoir, the area saw little traffic, mainly fishermen and Forest Service employees walking through.  

When I arrived, the crew I was set to meet was still out on the trail working, so I set up my car camp, walked down to the creek and explored the area.  

Just before 4 p.m., the crew returned to camp, carrying long crosscut saws, loppers and hand saws. Use of motorized or mechanical equipment is not allowed in the Bob because it is a designated wilderness area.  

They are one of dozens of volunteer trail crews taking on the Bob with the foundation this summer, working on a multi-day hitch.  

After most of the crew jumped into the creek to clean off for the day, we all gathered at basecamp, adorned with a hanging tarp, two tables and three bear-safe food storage boxes. Crew lead, Kevin Kromarek, started on dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread.  

The volunteer trips are designed to cater to volunteers, featuring a full food menu and a plethora of snacks. 

“I really like just kind of making it a comfortable environment for people,” Kromarek said as he began cooking ground beef for the sauce. “A lot of folks haven’t had backcountry experience. I’m really just trying to help people feel like they’ve invested themselves in the place. That’s a very important part of our work.” 

It’s also a chance to bring like-minded people from various paths and places together for one common goal, Kromarek said. As we sat down and ate, the group of volunteers talked about how they maintain home gardens. Talks of children and travel flooded the campsite as the sound of the creek raced by in the distance.  

A commonality between them all? A love for the outdoors and the preservation of recreation enhanced by individual stewardship. 

“Despite the workforce and funding challenges agencies and conservation nonprofits have faced this year, by standing shoulder to shoulder and trusting in our partnership, we've demonstrated, yet again, that together we can do more than any one of us alone,” Kipp said.  

Surveying over 2,000 people, a study by mapping technology company onX found that 96% of outdoor enthusiasts think it's important to preserve and maintain public lands and the access to recreation that they provide. However, only 19% of those say they commit to stewardship activities, whether that be volunteering, donating or advocating.   

“The people involved in our stewardship activities gain perspective-changing experiences that will endure for their lifetimes, while contributing to something bigger than themselves,” Kipp said. “Good stuff.”  

The foundation, which began in 1997, works in close partnership with the Forest Service to complete conservation projects within the wilderness area. Since that first summer, the foundation’s volunteer crews have cleared and improved over 10,000 miles of trail.   

They do so on hitches, manned by crews of volunteers, interns and Forest Service staff throughout the summer. Some are backcountry treks, where crews pack in using mules and clear trails that are less accessible. Front country trips tackle trails near a campground or access point.   

THE TRIP was Greg Dugdale’s fourth volunteer trip this summer, with another scheduled at the end of the month. From Havre, Dugdale wore a blue shirt he made himself with the words “No Tofu in the Bob.” 

Dugdale laughed, remembering his first volunteer trip where he was served tofu for dinner. He ate it, of course, but reminded us that he, like many who spend time in the Bob, is more of a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.  

Nevertheless, the importance of stewardship is at the forefront for Dugdale, bringing him back time and time again to work on the trails that have grown familiar to him. While previously recreating in The Bob, volunteering has allowed him to see new places that he didn’t know were maybe accessible.  

“It’s just that much more of a wilderness. All these areas are important, but what I like about the Bob specifically is it’s more rugged, it’s more rural, there's fewer people, people who want to step away from the Glacier Park type experience and get out and experience what wilderness is really like,” he said.  

We went to bed after dinner, tea and a few games of cards, belly laughing as a group, and awoke with the sun for coffee and breakfast. After a safety meeting and group talk, we were off for a day of work. 

We walked around 3 miles down Sergeant Corporal Creek Trail until we came across our first downed tree. Kromarek walked the group through protocol, and 20 minutes and the use of a couple of saws later the trail was cleared. Onward we went.  

To access the trail, our group embarked on a brief river crossing just a short walk from the campground. After around 2 miles of walking, we started to get above the main tree line, where new growth and brunt stands framed a view of the mountains. Suddenly, we saw The Bob from above.  

The day prior, the team worked mainly on clearing the sides of the trail where it began. It took the group nearly half a day to find the trailhead, completely engulfed in greenery. 

“It was so bushy and overgrown for 25 or 30 yards, you couldn’t even see there was a trail,” Steve Mahan, another volunteer, said at camp. I joked that the group was wandering around lost.  

“We weren’t lost,” Kromarek laughed. “That trail was lost.”  

By the time I ventured into the woods with the group, the first couple of miles were well trimmed, a full day of work the day before. Today’s objective, rather, was to find downed trees that could hinder a pack mule or horse's path.  

Five miles in, Dugdale called out another downed tree. Four feet wide, the tree blocked the path completely. Kromarek said it was the largest tree he had ever removed.  

Together, the team took turns on the crosscut saw and then the hand saws to finish it off. Together, volunteers lay on their backs and pushed the cut part of the tree with their legs to remove it from the trail; the cut piece, probably 10-feet long, went soaring down the mountain’s edge,  

“Timber!” a volunteer yelled.  

It was one of six trees that the crew cleared together that day, expanding access for packers, hunters and hikers and spreading a sense of accomplishment among the group. After an eight-hour day, we hiked out, jumped in the creek, and I departed the group as they stayed for one more day of work.  

IT’S NOT easy work, but it is also an enriching experience for those who attend among a group of like-minded individuals, volunteers said.  

For Kalispell’s Roberta Schuppel, this trip marks three volunteer trips in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, something she does each year in honor of beating breast cancer and going into remission.  

“We all have one common goal and that’s so beautiful,” she said. “We’re likeminded people in that respect. It’s not just to kill time, it’s quite an enriching experience.”   

For Grace Kinzler, 28, a second-time volunteer in the Bob, the sentiment stands. 

“If you sign up for something like this, you clearly have a love for the outdoors and want to do your part in preserving the places we love,” Kinzler said. Kinzler is a baker in Whitefish but gets out into the backcountry when she can. 

It is also super rewarding to see the progress made by the end of a hitch, Kinzler said, especially since it's manual labor.  

“We would not be able to get anywhere near the amount of work done that we have accomplished this summer [without you],” Spotted Bear District Ranger Adam LaDell told a group of Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation interns at an end-of-season event.  

Ladell came dressed in his full-dress uniform to address the crowd, a sign of gratitude and respect, Kipp said.  

There were 35 volunteer options this summer through the foundation, and more are slated for next summer. To learn more, visit bmwf.org/2025-project-list or bmwf.org.  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected]. 

  

 Trail crew leader Kevin Kromarek prepares cheese and crackers while volunteers Tiffany Li and Caleb Markham sit at basecamp. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)

    A fresh cut tree by volunteer crews in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Volunteers with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    A sign indicating that the volunteer crew passed into the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex's boundary after around four miles of hiking. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)