Montana has 7,968,942 acres of BLM lands and 16,932,702 acres of National Forests. The last wilderness designated in Montana was in 1983, the Lee Metcalf Wilderness.
Campaigns
Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Lolo and Kootenai National Forests
This bill will protect nearly 700,000 acres of wilderness across the Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Lolo and Kootenai National Forests, including the East and West Pioneers, the Sapphires, Lost Cabin and Lima Peaks, and additions to the Lee Metcalf, Anaconda-Pintlar, and North Fork Blackfoot Monture Creek Wilderness areas.
The bill will also improve forest health and fish and wildlife habitat as well as protect the lands for hunting, fishing, hiking and horseback riding. Along with wilderness protection, the measure will designate areas for backcountry recreation and areas for forest stewardship.
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Scotchman Peaks
Spanning the Idaho/Montana state line just east of Sandpoint, Idaho, the 80,000-acre proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness might well be nicknamed the “bastion of the goats” for the mountain goats that find wild refuge in its craggy peaks. The larger portion of this rugged area lies in Montana, but support for congressional wilderness protection comes from nearby communities in both states, including Noxon, Montana, and Hope and Clark Fork, Idaho. As one elected official writes, “I have spent many days hunting, fishing and camping in hundreds of places throughout this wilderness.” Thinking back to his first visit in 1964, he added: “Each time I enter the Scotchmans, I return to that first visit so many years ago. Time has stood still, I am young again and all is right with the world. The Scotchman Peaks area is truly a ‘fountain of youth’.”
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