Don Bennett and his family had such a good time volunteering to clear trail in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation last summer, they’re going back again this year.

Bennett, the president of Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls, thought that a volunteer trip in the Bob with the Foundation would be a good family bonding experience, plus they’d see some country they had seen before.

Bennett spends a lot of time outdoors, but it’s typically motorized use, he admits. This would be different, of course. Bennett and his daughters Blayne Furey and her husband Brian along with his daughter Kellen hiked back to Pretty Prairie on the east side of the Bob and went to work with other volunteers clearing trails out of the prairie with hand saws and crosscut saws.

“You couldn’t even tell where the trail was in some places,” Bennett recalled.

But by the end of the day they’d look back at the trail and say, “wow, we accomplished quite a bit,” Bennett said. “It was really rewarding.”

The crew leader from the Wilderness Foundation was a great host and the Foundation, like it does on all of its volunteer trips, provided food and other amenities to make the backcountry experience all the more comfortable. 

Bennett said when they weren’t working, the fishing nearby was great and Brian Furey found perfect 6-point elk sheds that also proved fortuitous. 

They hauled out the shed, and Brian found a reproduction skull to mount the sheds to. They then donated it back to the Foundation for its annual auction.

Don Bennett, wanting to keep the shed in the family, bought the shed back for a couple of grand, which benefitted the foundation.

This year the Bennetts plan on going back into the Bob again with the Foundation on a trip out of Meadow Creek up the South Fork, Don Bennett said.

“The (previous trip) gave me a much greater appreciation of the wilderness,” he said.

The Foundation had a busy year in 2025, noted director Cliff Kipp. 

With Forest Service funding and trails crews down, the Foundation stepped up and got a lot of work done in the 1.6-million-acre wilderness complex that stretches from just south of Marias Pass to almost Ovando.

All told, they did 48 projects with 368 volunteers who put in a total of 20,126 service hours. 

The Foundation also funded four professional trail technicians in partnership with the Forest Service. The total seasonal crew included 22 individuals including one journeyman packer and two packer apprentices, where young people learn the ropes of packing stock into the Bob.

The work included 448 miles of trails maintained, 49 miles of trail brushed and  more than 2,500 trees removed.

This year could prove even more challenging, Kipp noted, as the December wind and rain storms brought down thousands of trees.

Kipp cautioned the Foundation, while certainly a key player in wilderness stewardship, still relies heavily on the Forest Service.

“We’re not the answer to the backslide of maintenance,” in the wilderness, he noted.

He noted that last year, when some ranger districts saw their Forest Service trail crews cut to the bone, the public stepped up to support the Foundation and its mission of wilderness stewardship, which includes far more than just clearing trails. For example, crews do weed control and help with other projects. Last year they replaced the corral at the Spruce Park Ranger Station.

Most volunteers, 83%, are from Montana and nearly half from the Flathead. The average age of a volunteer is 42 and more than half, 54% are female.

Stock are also integral to the effort. Packers did 70  trips with 280 loads of gear covering 650 miles.

None of it would be possible without business and individual support.

“Last year the public demonstrated support and was really generous,” Kipp said.

To that end, the Foundation is currently accepting business partnership applications, where businesses have their logo or other information embossed on merchandise the Foundation sells, like sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats.

This year the Foundation will also be helping the University of Montana’s Institute of Tourism and Recreation on a visitor use survey at key Bob Marshall trailheads to gauge visitor experiences and to determine the economic benefits of the wilderness complex.

The Foundation expects to release its full list of volunteer trips for this summer in early March.

It is also hiring for trail technician positions for the 2026 season.

Volunteers pay a small fee to reserve a spot which is refunded after the hitch.

To learn more, visit the Foundation’s website at www.bmwf.org