April Eling

Youth Wilderness Expedition Leader

W Fork Camas Creek Trail #4128

Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

April chose to make a video blog about her work as SBFC’s Youth Wilderness Expedition Leader. Check it out!

April Eling, Youth Wilderness Expedition Leader

April grew up in Eastern Kentucky. After graduating high school, she moved to Utah and spent a year with a conservation corps doing trail work, invasive species removal, and more. She then spent four years as a wildland firefighter with the Forest Service in Arizona, California, and Montana. Next, she went back to Kentucky to get a degree in Natural Resources and work as a backcountry ranger. She graduated in spring 2024 and moved to Missoula to work for SBFC as a crew leader. After an inspiring season, she is returning in 2025 to lead our Youth Expeditions hitches. She loves Wilderness because it represents nature in its truest form and provides mental and physical well-being to all who access it. She is passionate about maintaining these places for ecological health and access for all people.

The SBFC Youth Wilderness program is made possible by donors and sponsors, including: the National Forest Foundation, the Lightfoot Foundation, Boise Cascade , Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Fund, Weyerhaeuser, Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, J.R. Simplot Company Foundation, Lamb Foundation, Blackfoot Communications, Ravalli Electric Co-op, May Hardware, Missoula Electric Cooperative, Missoula Sentinel Kiwainis, the River Network, the Rapp Family Foundation, the Montana Department of Natural Resources, the Connie Saylor Johnson Wilderness Education Grant, and private donors!