Ryan Ghelfi
May 26, 2026
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been bombarded with questions about SBFC's position on the recent signing of the Minimum Requirements Analysis for chainsaw use on certain trails in the Frank Church- River of No Return Wilderness.
SBFC is a wilderness stewardship organization with “Frank Church” in our name, so people naturally want to know our stance and what “side” we are on. The us-vs.-them narrative on this subject, and so many others in our country, can be incredibly strong.
SBFC has never been about us vs. them. We are a non-advocacy, boots-on-the-ground stewardship organization. We recruit hundreds of volunteers and hire dozens of seasonal staff and interns each year to get an incredible amount of work done in the Selway-Bitterroot, Frank Church, and surrounding wildlands. One of our strengths is that we won’t play into the us-versus-them narrative. It’s not what we do.
But, for those wondering, what is SBFC's position on this “in the news” topic? Here it is:
SBFC is a wilderness stewardship outfit. We do a ton of work on trails. We estimate that SBFC crews will maintain 600-1000 miles of trail under our current plans this season. It’s a tremendous amount of work.
SBFC crews will use traditional tools while working in the wilderness this season, just as we have for the last twenty years. Our crews are experienced and skilled with crosscuts and axes, and they’ll remove 5,000-10,000+ logs from the trail corridor this season with those tools, skills, and passion.
SBFC wilderness trail crews do more than just remove logs. We forecast that our crews will likely spend 30-40% of their time cutting logs this season. Tread repair and drainage work has become an increasingly large part of what our crews do. This work is not optional; it truly sustains the resource. Brushing (no one's favorite job) is equally important for the long-term sustainability of the trail. You can be sure we’ll be doing a whole lot of this work, in addition to cutting out thousands of logs.
All of this is to say, SBFC is laser-focused on wilderness stewardship. For us, wilderness stewardship means we’ll be using traditional non-motorized / non-mechanized tools when working in the wilderness, whether removing logs from the 8 ft wide trail corridor, removing brush, kicking rocks off the tread, or repairing the tread itself, which is a highly technical, skilled task where there are no shortcuts to doing good work.
No matter the tool or task, it takes an incredible amount of human time, effort, and skill to accomplish wilderness and trail stewardship goals across this landscape. It takes more humans than we have had out there in recent years (or decades). So, we will focus on bringing more humans into the fold and out on the ground. In 2026, we have our largest ever cohort of seasonal staff and interns (34!), and not by a small margin. We’ll engage with the most adult and youth volunteers in our history, and again, not by a small margin. We can see the energy, the excitement, and the momentum. It is real. Those are the things that we need, and those are the things that stand the test of time as we look ahead, not just for the next few years, but for decades to come.
SBFC exists because people love wilderness, and people care about these places a whole lot. We can say with confidence that many people will continue to love and care about these places far into the future.
Our mission is to open pathways for all to discover and steward wilderness. Stewarding wilderness is hard. It’s especially hard in the largest wilderness in the lower 48. What a privilege it is to play our role in this endeavor and to do it well. You can find us out there this season, from Missoula to Boise, and all points between, working to keep the wildest place accessible.
As always, feel free to reach out with thoughts, questions, or comments!