Our Work
WHere we work
Native lands
We live and work on the ancestral lands of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu), Salish (Séliš) Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock, and Lemhi-Shoshone peoples. For millennia, Indigenous peoples inhabited and stewarded these lands. We thank the first land stewards.
We acknowledge the complexity of wilderness ideology and its white social construct as a place “where man himself is a visitor who does not remain…” We recognize that for many fellow humans, the wilderness narrative is associated with oppression, trauma, displacement of Native peoples and sovereignty, and lack of opportunity.
The 1964 Wilderness Act was passed “...to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness” (section 2a). As guests, we honor the spiritual and cultural landscapes and homelands on which we operate. We embrace our contemporary responsibility to be respectful stewards.
We imagine a better future where wilderness is a place of productive partnerships, and a place where all peoples feel welcome and safe.
To identify the indigenous lands you are on, check out the Native Lands Digital map. This dynamic map of Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages inspires critical thought and discussion about the history of both Indigeneity and colonialism.
national forests
The Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, stewards the 4 million acre Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness areas and surrounding wildlands. This Wilderness complex is managed by the US Forest Service across five Forests and several Ranger Districts:
on the ground: How we work
SBFC staff, Fellows, and volunteers increase wilderness stewardship capacity for the US Forest Service. We do this in many ways:
Open and maintain trails to wilderness specifications and ensure recreational access
Perform Wilderness Stewardship Performance Monitoring
Remove hazardous trees
Monitor and naturalize campsites
Remove trash
Monitor water quality
Train the next generation of conservation stewards through the Wilderness Ranger Fellowship program
Host and maintain wilderness cabins and campgrounds
Spot wildfires and greet visitors at fire lookouts
View this map for more details about our wilderness stewardship accomplishments in the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness areas.
Special thanks to SBFC Volunteer Pam Bond for the creation and maintenance of this ArcGIS map.