Zach Moss - 2018 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Name: Zach Moss | 2018 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Education: B.A. in Environmental Science with a Biology minor from Central College in Pella, IA; Master of Natural Resources degree from University of Idaho (McCall Outdoor Science School, aka M.O.S.S.)

Why did you want to join SBFC as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow? 

I was seeking a deeper immersion in a huge wild place. In Iowa, 99.9% of our original tallgrass prairies have been destroyed, 15 out of 2,617 waterbody segments meet all their designated uses, we rank 48th out of 50 states for public land, and we have zero federally-designated Wilderness Areas. I wanted to develop my sense of place in my Geography of Hope, so I could return back to Iowa and have the strength to fight the good fight of natural resource conservation and education in my home state. 

I was also excited to return to my roots in conservation, give back to this place and the SBFC organization, and grow in my Wilderness skills and knowledge. When I was a high school student in 2012, I participated in the IDAWA project with Dallas County Conservation Board here in Iowa, where we traveled to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I was led on this trek by Chris Adkins and Connie Saylor Johnson. 

During this pilgrimage, I uncovered a new level of intimacy with the natural world, and I began to see my role in the universe differently. My short time in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness changed who I was as a person and changed the trajectory of my life. I felt that I owed a debt to repay the gifts I had received.

Zach on his high school IDAWA trip in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in 2012.

Zach as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow back in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in 2018.

What experiences stood out to you the most during your time as an SBFC Fellow? 

One of my favorite things to tell people is that I got to see a wolverine on my very first hitch to start the summer! It’s rare to spot these elusive mustelids, and even rarer to see one as low in elevation and as close-up as we did. 

My hitch in the beautiful Soldier Lakes area was my favorite of the summer. I fondly recall hopping around the Soldier Lakes complex clearing trail and naturalizing campsites, fishing and enjoying sunsets in the evening, spotting a small wildfire in the distance from the Big Soldier Lookout, seeing a rainbow of wildflowers blooming on Patrol Ridge, and seeing a double rainbow in the sky while hiking down off Patrol Ridge to our camp.

What was the most important lesson you learned during your time with SBFC?

I had an “ah-ha!” moment about public land and Wilderness during a volunteer group hitch along the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. We were a larger group supported by packers from the Treasure Valley Backcountry Horsemen, dozens of rafters and kayakers passed us on the river daily, and there were airplanes flying in and out of nearby Wilderness airstrips. At first, it got on my nerves that this was partially degrading the Wilderness Character of the area. Slowly, however, I started to change my mindset. I came to understand these other people were operating within the bounds of the Wilderness Act to get out and experience the Frank in various ways. I needed to get out of my own worldview to grow in my understanding that these public lands are meant for everyone, even if they use them differently than I do. 

What has been your career path since your time with SBFC?

Zach working in Iowa today

I returned back to Iowa after finishing with SBFC, and I started out working in a corporate office, overseeing outdoor operations (prairie management, lawn care, landscaping, snow removal, etc.) for all the HOAs of a Des Moines real estate company. After working there for a short bit, I spent two years coordinating volunteer water quality monitoring in the state of Iowa for the nonprofit Izaak Walton League. Currently, I’ve been an environmental educator and natural resource manager for the Dallas County Conservation Board since July 2021.

How has what you learned while being a Fellow informed your current position, or your journey to where you are now?

Learning more about and living out Leave No Trace has helped shape my view of how humans interact with the natural world and public lands. Spending time doing hard challenges and learning new things in new places as an intern was a great confidence builder for me personally, and it’s encouraged me to push myself out of my comfort zone to earn rewarding experiences. Additionally, in my current position in Dallas County, I’ll be co-leading the IDAWA trek to volunteer with SBFC in the Selway, and I would not have the skills or confidence to do that without the cumulative Wilderness backpacking experiences and trainings I had as an intern with SBFC. 

Susie Sidder - 2014 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Name: Susie (Irizarry) Sidder

Wilderness Ranger Fellow in what year?: 2014

Why did you want to join SBFC as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow?

Susie on a hitch at Indian Creek. The realities of working in a burn area!

I did the Fellowship right after finishing my master’s degree in Natural Resources at the University of Idaho. I moved to Idaho from the east coast to study wilderness and natural resources management from a human dimensions perspective. I wanted to understand people who are recreating on public lands, specifically what are their behaviors and how can we change behaviors to protect resources?

Ed Krumpe, an SBFC board member, taught two of my wilderness classes at the University of Idaho. Through Ed and those classes, I learned about the Wilderness Ranger Fellowship and thought that it would be an excellent opportunity to be on the ground and see what working as a manager is like.

What experiences stood out to you the most during your time as an SBFC Fellow? Most memorable, or most poignant?

The main thing that sticks out to me from the experience was how empowering it was as a woman to push myself in the wilderness and know that I could do it! It was so formative to enter the space of learning traditional wilderness tools and growing the confidence to be able to problem solve and do work in the backcountry.

I’m from Florida originally and my family did not grow up camping and backpacking. These are skills I’ve learned as an adult. Living in Idaho was my first exposure to truly wide-open spaces. Getting my brain wrapped around wilderness as a management entity was impactful… I had read about crosscut saws and traditional tools and skills and understood the terminology, but actually doing it was so empowering!

I’m 5’2” and was definitely intimidated by the idea of carrying a 50+ pound pack plus tools in my arms. However, I had a strong sense of determination going into the Fellowship. The staff at SBFC were so supportive and working with the other women (and men) in my cohort was great.

Did you have an “ah-ha!” moment as a Fellow? What was the most important lesson you learned during your time?

Things started to click together when I was working with some other Fellows in the Frank. We were working in an area that hadn’t been maintained for a LONG time. It was an area that fire had burned through many years ago, and it was regrown… the fireweed was hip high. After the burn, the landscape reclaimed the area.

I think that experience of working through and reestablishing the trail through a burnout was an a-ha moment for realizing how so many factors come together in wilderness management. I typically approach things through human dimensions/recreation and focus on understanding the people-side of land management and think about wilderness in terms of opening trails for access. That experience on the fire trail was very eye-opening in terms of the larger forces (such as fire) that wilderness managers in the west are dealing with, and help determine how we manage the land.

A group of fellows and volunteers posing for a photo after clearing the last log from the trail. Susie is in the very center of the group, 6-in from either side.

On another hitch that summer, we went back to the same place and brought a volunteer crew. It was a beautiful experience to be part of a volunteer hitch where volunteers could experience stewarding an area. Bringing people to the wilderness to connect with the land was, and continues to be, so important.

Those two hitches and seeing all these factors at play were so impactful for me. My takeaway was the realization of what it means to manage wilderness in our modern context.

What has been your career path since your time with SBFC?

Right after SBFC I worked in consulting with the National Park Service to implement social science broadly throughout the NPS and address visitor use and social science information needs to inform park planning and management. Some of the projects I contributed to touched on wilderness, but most were geared to protected areas more broadly.

Susie preparing to hike to Little Yosemite Valley as part of a training and field scoping trip for an ongoing project wilderness character and travel pattern study with Yosemite National Park (September 2021)

Now I’m a PhD candidate at Oregon State University, focused on applied social science and human dimensions. I’m still focused on wilderness and understanding travel patterns and behaviors of both users in remote/difficult to access and in high use wilderness around Yosemite. My research is geared to predictive modeling of recreational visitor movement in protected areas, with the goal of providing managers with information and maps to help in proactive management and resource stewardship.

My academic and career trajectory has always been working towards federal lands management… either through partnerships, private sector work, or academic cooperatives. Today, I continue to work in the public lands management arena, not as a land manager, but as a researcher to support planning efforts and research on the ground.

I plan to finish my PhD in the Fall. I’ve been teaching a Wilderness Management course at Oregon State for upper level undergraduates for the past two fall quarters and am excited to teach it one last time during the 2022 Fall term. As I wrap up my degree, I’m starting to look for the next opportunity, ideally continuing to work on applied land management and wilderness issues as a federal land manager or as a partner. 

Any advice for people who want to follow in your footsteps—especially women who want to get involved within this industry?

My advice is that it’s important to seek out opportunities that allow you to be on the ground and see what’s going on! Whether you want to be a manager in an agency or in a supportive role, there are so many different avenues to work in to serve the greater public lands mission of preserving and protecting our land for today’s generation and future generations. I think it’s so important to seek out a variety of experiences- even paths that don’t seem like they will be “the path.” For me, when I was looking for opportunities after my masters, every time I thought about applying for SBFC Fellowship, I had a feeling that I should just go for it! I had to stop worrying about underlying questions like, will this be my path forever? You have to be nimble and focused on a broad goal but realize that there are so many lenses and ways to get there. The experiences that you have will shape you, broaden your network, change the way you view problems, and mold you into the career path and professional that you are meant to be.

Taking the SBFC Fellowship was taking a chance on something that ordinarily I wouldn’t have done, but it was far and above one of my most formative experiences.

Now I can tell agency partners that I’ve built trail and used a crosscut! It helps to build connections and bridges within this field/arena. The common shared experience of what trail work is and means goes a long way when working on complex and often difficult to resolve land management issues.

Susie with a tree she logged out during her summer with SBFC.

Steve Mantani - 2017 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Gabe (left) Steve (right) returning from the last hitch as SBFC fellows in the summer of 2017.

• Master of Forestry, Michigan Tech, November 2017

• B.A. Economics, Rutgers University, August 2009

Why did you want to fellow with SBFC?

Over the previous 4-5 years prior to fellowing with SBFC I had been going through a career change from the finance world to the natural resources world. Partway through that experience I decided forestry was the way to go for me, however I still hadn’t had the opportunity to deeply explore what life as a Wilderness Ranger would be like, and for a long time I assumed it could be the most enjoyable work in all of the natural resources fields. This fellowship gave me the opportunity to live the life of a Wilderness Ranger for a summer and see if that was the career path I wanted to pursue after graduation or if I wanted to stick to a more traditional forestry route.

What was the most poignant experience you had as a fellow?

The juxtaposition of brutally demanding physical work and the absolute splendor of relaxing in the wilderness with little distractions provides a good representation of my experience as a fellow. An example from one particular day, we spent it digging out and rebuilding a small section of trail that had been completely covered in rock debris from upslope erosion. Imagine a combination of moving large heavy boulders and shoveling scree over and over again for hours. Every time you dig, more scree fills in from upslope so that it doesn’t even look like you are accomplishing anything. However, after several hours we started to hit more solid earth and constructed a crib wall to mitigate further erosion. It is the most physical work I have ever done. In heavy contrast to that, during our lunch break we sat in the shade, dipped our feet into Big Creek and listened to it rage past us as we had absolutely nothing to do but enjoy our lunch and relax. No phone calls, no emails, no noise, just us and the splendor of the Frank Church. This same experience was repeated many times throughout the summer and I think it not only reflects work as a wilderness ranger but also the wilderness experience in more general terms, challenging yet peaceful at the same time.

What has been your career path post college graduation?

After completing my master’s degree I was hired by the US Forest Service on the Eastern Region Timber Strike Team. As a member of the strike team I worked on national forests from Minnesota to West Virginia and Maine to Missouri. Most of the time I marked and cruised timber, but I also did some forest inventory measurements. Marking and cruising timber is in its essence utilizing a guide to choose which trees will be harvested and which trees will be left, mark them appropriately with paint, and measure a sample of them in order to estimate the total volume/value being removed. I moved up quickly on the strike team as there is a lot of turnover with all the travel physical work required. After detailing as a team leader for a few months I accepted an offer to be a Silvicultural Forester on the Coronado National Forest in Tucson, AZ. As a Silvicultural Forester I primarily plan and implement forest restoration projects. These projects are usually targeted at restoring vegetation conditions closer to pre-settlement conditions in which fire impacts were not as detrimental and/or improving wildlife habitat (we have over 30 federally listed endangered species on the Coronado).

How did the SBFC fellowship play a role in landing your first job out of college?

While most of the skills I learned as a fellow for SBFC are not directly related to my current position, I think showing potential employers that you have the mental and physical fortitude to spend long periods of time in the wilderness doing challenging work speaks a lot about character and ability to work in a team. I also have to work with interdisciplinary teams often, which include our recreation staff, so having an understanding of their work is very helpful when working on different types of projects together. I believe our leaders in the US Forest Service value staff members with diverse backgrounds that can understand a variety of disciplines within natural resource management. It also never hurts to have your Wilderness First Responder certification when you’ll be working in the woods.

How did you use the information you learned while being a fellow help you in your college work and/or your new career? 

The fellowship really helped give me perspective on the history of federally designated wilderness and hammer home some of the important dates and laws I had previously learned. This understanding certainly helps me to be a more well-rounded and knowledgeable natural resources professional, especially for USFS. Additionally, prior to this fellowship all of my seasonal positions in natural resource management didn’t come with many challenges. As such, I wore rose colored glasses when considering careers throughout natural resources. This fellowship taught me not only about where I wanted to go in my career, but also where I didn’t want to go, and that might be even more important when starting down a new career path.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years.

I love my current position with the US Forest Service and am really enjoying living in the Sonoran Desert. I expect to have this position for the next 2-4 years and then have the opportunity to apply for a promotion to be the Forest Silviculturist. That has been my dream job since starting on my journey as a Forester and I am really excited that I may have the opportunity to snag it in a place I am falling in love with. Although, I do miss Western Montana and Central Idaho!

If you have any other thoughts or observations you’d like to share with our readers – please do. 

I just want to give a big thanks to all the folks who make SBFC a great organization including the employees, board members, donors, volunteers, other fellows, and partners. It was a great summer and an excellent learning experience that I wouldn’t have had without you. The work you are doing is critically important to preserving our public lands! Keep on getting after it! If you have any questions for me or plan to visit Tucson, feel free to get in touch, steven.mantani@usda.gov.

Heather Morris - 2017 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

What has been your career path thus far?

Post graduation I took a bit of a break to complete a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail.  I started the six-month journey on June 3 and finished November 30. Soon after I completed the trail I received an offer from the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey, located in Boise, ID. It is an Americorp position and I am a Conservation Educator.  Because Covid has forced the facility to be shut down I’m unable to do the educating component, but have focused on bird handling and habitat work.  I’ve actually built trail (an SBFC acquired skill) that meanders throughout a native plant garden located at the facility.  I also get to work with 27 avian ambassadors that include a harpy eagle, kestrels, milky eagle owl and peregrine falcons.  I’m hopeful we’ll be able to open soon and I’ll get to educate the public about these wonderful birds.

What was the most poignant experience you had as a fellow?

It was the Lottie Lake hitch.  We were deep in the backcountry and camped next to a beautiful lake.  My crewmembers and I were able to swim each day after a hard day of trail work.  To top it off we were surprised by Erika Van Havel and Sally Ferguson when they came to meet us with packstock and watermelon.  What a treat!

How did you use the information you learned while being a fellow in your coursework or new career?

This fellowship was so valuable in many ways.  In terms of academics, the experiences I had and the personal connections I made gave me a broader perspective on textbook information and classroom conversations.  I adopted more of a “national” view of wilderness and wildlands, rather than the east coast perspective that my peers had.  In terms of jobs, I was able to work at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge as a biology intern where I was able to work independently in a remote area.  I performed some trail work but mainly did water quality testing, education, and other biological field projects.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’d like to work as a field biologist in either Australia or Central/South America.  I plan to continue my Americorps work at the Peregrine Fund until September 2021.  After that I hope to start working on my masters and doing field research.  Following grad school I hope to be doing some more fieldwork and biology jobs and maybe it will lead me to one of these great places.

Tyler Lee - 2015 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

•  BS - Environmental & Sustainability, Western State Colorado University, 2016

• Master of Environmental Management – Integrative and Public Land Management, Western State Colorado University, 2019

What has been your career track thus far?

After my 2015 season as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow with the SBFC, I went to work for the Forest Service a Wilderness Ranger in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. I patrolled solo on and off trail in the remote backcountry for five days at a time in the Sawtooth Wilderness (217,088 acres) and newly designated Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness (67,998 acres) and White Clouds Wilderness (90,769 acres). During my two seasons in the Sawtooth NRA, I had the opportunity to provide input and recommendations for the Wilderness Management Plan, bring to fruition a non-profit volunteer group called Wilderness Stewards, and oversee early season projects and logistics as Assistant to the Wilderness Manager.

Tyler Lee meeting with Congressman Mike Simpson

This past January I was sponsored by the American Hiking Society as a Next Generation Trail Leader to travel to Washington D.C. to advocate in favor of legislation that supports trails and wilderness at Hike The Hill. Over the course of a week, I met with Congressmen, Senators, and high-ranking government officials such as the Chief of the Forest Service. One of the meetings that stood out was with Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho, where I was able to share my experience as a fellow with the SBFC.

Currently, I am a Candidate in the Masters in Environmental Management Program at Western State Colorado University with a focus on studying Integrative and Public Land Management. My thesis project in Colorado is assisting the White River National Forest with implementing an overnight limited use permit system in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness. The primary focus of this project will be to employ and enforce the inaugural permit system at the heavily used Conundrum Hot Springs. In addition, I will be seasonally employed by the White River National Forest as the Lead Wilderness Ranger overseeing a crew of fourteen trails and wilderness personnel.

Why did you want to fellow with SBFC?

Before I was a Fellow with SBFC, I had worked as an Assistant Crew Leader and Crew Member on AmeriCorps Backcountry Trail Crews. Since I was young, I had wanted to be a Wilderness Ranger and work for the Forest Service. I saw the Wilderness Ranger Fellowship with the SBFC as an opportunity to leverage my trail skills into a Wilderness Ranger Position.

What was your “aha moment” as a fellow?

The most moving experience I had as a fellow was standing in the Middle Fork of the Salmon River deep within the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness after several days of logging out trails. The river embodied the eternal nature of Wilderness through time, but more importantly, showed that we do not need wild places for nature's sake, we need wilderness for humanity’s sake.

How did the SBFC fellowship play a role in landing your first job out of college?

If it were not for SBFC, I would not have had the connections I needed to land a Wilderness Ranger position in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Furthermore, Wilderness Character Monitoring is becoming a necessary skill in the wilderness and recreation management field. The SBFC fellowship was an excellent opportunity to learn about Wilderness Character Monitoring and research in designated Wilderness.

How did you use the information you learned while being a fellow to help you in your college work and/or your new career? 

One of the critical skill sets that has directly translated towards working with the Forest Service is volunteer management. There is a significant shift in the Forest Service towards “shared stewardship”, which means Forest Managers need to have outstanding relationships with partners, such as the SBFC. Working for the SBFC, I was able to see how volunteer groups function and how to efficiently coordinate volunteers in the backcountry from a Forest and Partner point of view.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years.

In five years I would like to see myself in a Wilderness or recreation management position with the US Forest Service. While I do not currently see myself having an “end goal”, I would like to have a position where I can effectuate positive change on a large scale, whether it be through policy or stewardship.

Julia Bowman - 2014 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

• University of Denver, BA, Geography & International Studies Major (2014)

• University of Denver Sturm College of Law (2020)

What experiences stood out to you the most during your time as an SBFC Fellow?

I most valued spending time with such wonderful people. The SBFC staff, organizational partners, and the other fellows are the best! At some point during the summer, I told my hitch partner, Erica Patterson, that we didn’t spend every waking moment together, we spent every moment together. Not only did we work together (we named our crosscut saw “Tinkerbell”), but we also shared a bedroom in Stevensville and explored Montana and Idaho in Erica’s van when we were not working. The fact that we were still singing together at the top of our lungs on our last hitch now seems pretty miraculous.

What was the most important lesson you learned during your time with SBFC?

That access to our wild places is not to be taken for granted! From on-the-ground work maintaining our existing wilderness areas to advocacy in an effort to protect more wild places, we all have our part to play.

What has been your career path since your time with SBFC?

After I finished working with SBFC, I made my way to Paonia, Colorado where I served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with a local conservation group. There, I managed projects and grants to improve the Paonia River Park, a former instream gravel mine, and also gained more experience with the issues surrounding water in the west—particularly those related to agriculture. My experience with SBFC and in Paonia led me to law school at the University of Denver, where I focused on natural resource and water law. Currently, I work at the New Mexico Supreme Court as a law clerk for Justice C. Shannon Bacon, and I plan to stay in New Mexico after finishing my clerkship in September.

How has what you learned while being a Fellow informed your current position?

I had a bit of a Legally Blonde moment when I was a fellow. I was cleaning out a campfire in the Bitterroot, and as I hid the coals behind a bush, I thought to myself, “I think I’ll go to law school.” As I have taken my first steps into, and now out of, law school, the on-the-ground experience that SBFC provides gave me insight and understanding about the dynamics and complexities of resource management in the west. My time as a fellow also helped fuel my commitment to western places and people.

Any advice for people who want to get involved within this industry?

A good attitude, interest in learning, and willingness to work hard goes a long way.

Kristina Schenck - 2013 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

• B.S. Environmental Science and Policy 2013, St. Edward’s University

What experiences stood out to you the most during your time as an SBFC Fellow?

Overall, I just had the best time backpacking in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness--cutting out SO MANY trees, eating all the food, working in burn areas, and swimming everywhere. And the solitude! I remember making a public contact at a lake 11 miles back and telling Adam Washebek, USFS Wilderness Ranger, who said “Wow you guys saw actual people?!” To me, the sheer size and the opportunities for solitude that you have in big remote wilderness areas like the Selway-Bitterroot or the Frank is so special. Unfortunately, it’s becoming much harder to find.

What was the most important lesson you learned during your time in the field with SBFC?

Kristina with her SBFC crew in 2013.

There were a lot of sufferfests slogging a heavy backpack uphill for miles and I remember it being a summer of blisters for me and a couple of other interns. My supervisor at the time, Kenzie Carson, taught me how to prevent and take care of blisters and I still use the moleskin donut technique all the time (thank you Kenzie!) That’s more of a technical, practical skill. That being said, within that practical skill lies a lesson about taking care of your health, so as a leader you can help other people take care of themselves, too.

What has been your career path since your time with SBFC?

I went on to work seasonally on the San Juan National Forest in Colorado as a wilderness ranger, on trail crews, and timber crews from 2014-2019. In total I worked eight seasons including my time on the San Juan, with SBFC and on other forests. I am now the Lead Wilderness Ranger on the Columbine Ranger District for the San Juan National Forest. In my district we manage part of the Weminuche Wilderness, the largest wilderness in Colorado, and the Hermosa Creek Wilderness, the newest wilderness area in Colorado.

How has what you learned while being a Fellow informed your current position?

My experience as a Fellow provided me with a solid foundation for my career so far, especially because I’ve continued working in wilderness. I still do most of the things I did as a Fellow, such as logging out trail, campsite rehabilitation, public contacts, and trail work. Now I also do the managing and planning for the summer season in addition to the boots-on-the-ground work. Most of all, I think working with SBFC showed me the power of the wilderness community and how important it is to have strong partnerships. I really value that community aspect and try to model that experience, especially now I am on the government side of things and see how badly we need people on all sides to protect the American wilderness as an enduring resource.

Any advice for people who want to follow in your footsteps?

I always try to remember to have heart and balance humility with ambition. Find a mentor, remember that you can always learn more from others than you can teach them, and stand up for yourself and your beliefs.

Jacob Mandell - 2013 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

What has been your career path thus far? I interned with the SBFC during the summer of my junior year of college. After graduation I applied for Wilderness Ranger positions throughout the west. I ended up landing a job with Olympic National Park as a Wilderness Information Assistant; this role was a mix of wilderness ranger and permit distributor. I found that while I loved working for the National Parks, I missed the physical nature of trail work and the direct connection I gained with the landscape. The following spring I got a position with the Washington Trails Association (WTA) as a Youth Trail Crew Leader. After a season in that role I got the position of Youth Programs Assistant. I worked in the field leading day and week-long trail work crews, as well as working in the office coordinating trips and leading trainings. After several outdoor jobs, I have again pivoted and I’m working in public high school as an Educational Assistant in the Special Education department.

What was the most poignant experience you had as an intern? The entire summer was filled with life changing experiences and constant learning. The community is what I cherish most about that summer. Spending long days working with others in the endless pursuit of maintaining wilderness trails is a special bond, one that I’ve experienced working on numerous forests throughout the west. Getting to know my co-workers on a deep level and knowing their backgrounds, motivations, and life experiences has influenced my decisions about my own future. That summer at the SBFC was special for me because my co-workers were so passionate and knowledgeable about the history of the Wilderness Act, ecology, fly fishing, and all things trail work. Being able to learn in a tight knit trail community while doing good hard work taught me more than most of my college classes.

How did the SBFC internship play a role in landing your first job out of college?  SBFC taught me strategies to use when applying for federal jobs which gave me a huge advantage in the application process. Doing campsite inventories, maintaining trails, and interacting with visitors gave me the experience and skills I needed to excel at my job at Olympic National Park.

How did the internship help you in your college work? My summer at the SBFC directly affected my senior year of school. I started school with a stronger work ethic and was far more motivated about my classwork. Also, I could speak to Wilderness ethics and land management issues based on my experience.  I’ve often thought of the teamwork and communication skills I gained during my summer at SBFC.

Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s hard to say where I’ll be at in five years, given how I could have never guessed where’d I’d be right now. I know that whatever I do, my experiences working in the woods, and particularly my formative experiences with the SBFC, will influence my work and life forever.

Jack Markoski - 2013 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

What has been your career track thus far? Environmental Stewardship

Why did you want to intern with SBFC?

I looked for an internship to complete my senior capstone project. I wanted to challenge myself to work on the “front lines” of conservation.

I was attracted to the Foundation by the organization’s “boots on the ground” philosophy, it allowed me to achieve tangible results and to listen to the stories that people had to tell.  As a Wilderness Ranger Intern I got the opportunity to gain perspective on the multiple dimensions of the Wilderness concept and what my professional work might look like.

What was the most poignant experience you had as an intern? There were truly dozens of experiences I had with SBFC that triggered great shifts in my perspective.  I wish I could name them all.  In one of my first hitches on the Payette, the Lead Steward and I were making our way off a burned-over peak when we spotted a storm plowing its way through the canyon toward us.  Leaping down the trail with Ponderosas leaning and groaning in the wind, I felt an intimate excitement acknowledging my lack of control in the world.  It was the first time I recognized that.  While recreationalists often seek challenges from the terrain of a wild landscape, the most important challenge is learning to embrace and balance the sense of fear and awe while absorbed in a powerful place-this planet.  Nature demands that we interact with wild communities with an acute sense of responsibility and humility.

How did the SBFC internship play a role in landing your first job out of college? I was hired as a Wilderness Research Technician in northeastern Nevada with the Great Basin Institute – three different Wilderness Areas.  My SBFC Wilderness Ranger Intern training and experience prepared me for the requirements of the job.  I collected data on campsite impacts in support of the Forest Service’s goals for the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act.  I was fully qualified to monitor sites, improve trails, record and report the information collected, and grasp the management challenges and history of Wilderness.

How did you use the information you learned while being an intern help you in your college work and/or your new career?  The lessons I learned as an intern have remained with me to this day and Wilderness remains at the core of my heart.  I carry with me an unrelenting appreciation for the hard work of stewardship and the care of the tools necessary to complete that work. I still find it imperative to listen to the stories and perspectives of those who have experienced protected lands and what it means to them individually. The Foundation instilled in me a great appreciation for neighboring rural communities and how they are affected by conservation, both positively and negatively. And above all, the family I found within the SBFC organization has become my gold standard for all my professional relationships.

What has been your career path post college graduation? Eager to return to the world that had inspired me, I took a seasonal position in northeastern Nevada as a Wilderness Research Technician in the Ruby Mountain-Jarbidge Ranger District. It was here that my love for wild places blossomed.  I viewed Wilderness from new perspectives and across new landscapes. The following year, I hopped from living on an island in the Caribbean and volunteering with the National Parks, to a seasonal field support position in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire with the Appalachian Mountain Club.  I circled back to Vermont in late 2015 and began working in its "Northeast Kingdom", a sparsely populated, tri-county region that offers some of the wildest territory in the Green Mountain State.  As the Conservation Assistant with the Northwoods Stewardship Center, I helped implement management goals on state forests and supervised eight crews on US Fish & Wildlife Refuges.  Realizing I wanted to expand my professional experience to the protection of biodiverse and critical habitats, I signed an AmeriCorps year-term contract with The Nature Conservancy in Vermont.  I was exposed to natural area management, conservation easement monitoring, and how both fit into regional and global contexts. In November of 2017 I was hired by the Nature Conservancy Chapter which is where I’m employed today.  The NC organization protects 200,000 acres in Vermont.   That doesn’t hold a candle to the nearly 4 million acres of the Selway Bitterroot-Frank Church complex, but my experience in Idaho still affects my approach to stewardship and my work with local communities to protect the pieces, patterns, and processes of a "wild" world. 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? No matter where I find myself in five years, geographically or professionally, I would hope to have contributed directly to the conservation of more regional corridors, core habitats, and avenues for visitors to experience the sense of wildness and ecological integrity of the land.  I would like to feel confident in resilient landscapes where species and the natural communities they make up can move and “express” themselves without losing more pieces of the biological puzzle. This, to me, is the “wild”, and my work will always be dedicated to protecting it.

Jack Ader - 2013 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

After Jack’s summer fellowship with SBFC in 2013 he returned to the University of Idaho to finish his degree in Natural Resource Conservation with a Minor in Wilderness Management. 

Jack graduated in the spring of 2014 and immediately went to work as a Wilderness Ranger in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area where he spent the summer patrolling the Sawtooth Wilderness, cleaning up fire rings and burying poop.   He followed that with a brief stint working with the coalition that eventually saw the creation of three new wilderness areas in the Boulder-White Cloud region of Idaho.

From there Jack went to work as a Wilderness Ranger on the Middle Fork District of the Salmon-Challis National Forest where he spent a season cutting out trails in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

After that, Jack accepted a permanent position as the Wilderness Ranger of the West Fork District on the Bitterroot National Forest.   That’s where you can find him today! 

According to Jack, “The SBFC fellowship was pivotal in helping shape my career path.  The skills I was taught and relationships I developed with both land managers, staff, and other fellows gave me the boost I needed to bring me to where I am now.”

Charles Smillie - 2011 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

After Charlie’s fellowship in 2011, Charlie wrapped up school at U of M’s College of Forestry and Conservation, and rejoined the SBFC as a Crew Leader out of Powell Ranger Station. A full six months of backcountry work, mentoring a new crop of fellows, and learning more about wilderness, trail work, and outdoor leadership helped Charlie in his transition from college into the next phase of his life.

On the recommendation of SBFC colleagues, in 2013 Charlie left Montana to spend a season with Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, a boots-on-the-ground effort in the same spirit as SBFC. There, he experienced a new landscape, culture, and found that the community of people with passion for wild places was alive and well in the southeast. As a crew leader, wilderness ranger, and eventually field supervisor, Charlie’s time with SAWS brought further clarity and opportunity for growth. The path of professional wilderness stewardship that began as a SBFC fellow continued to lead to more opportunities to help people connect and protect wild places.

After three years exploring Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina, Charlie was blessed to have an opportunity to return to his hometown, Billings, to become the Eastern Montana Field Director for the Montana Wilderness Association. While he doesn’t spend as many days on trails as he once did, he does get to work with bright, committed people every day to advocate for and protect the Prairie Wildlands that first drew his eyes to the horizon. To learn more about the places Charlie’s working to protect with MWA, visit wildmontana.org, or feel free to reach out to him directly at csmillie@wildmontana.org.

Shane Hetzler – 2011 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

After his fellowship in 2011, Shane returned to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies to finish up his master’s degree.  He worked for the School Forester’s Office there, first as an apprentice forester, and later as the head of the Quiet Corner Initiative.  This initiative was focused on building local capacity around sustainable forest management, small-scale agriculture, and renewable energy in a very rural and overlooked part of the state. 

In 2013 Shane started Back Forty Forestry, LLC, a forestry consulting firm dedicated to sustainable land management in the Northeast.  His clients range from private landowners to prep schools and land trusts, as well as many other folks.  The diversity of projects in Back Forty’s portfolio includes ecological baseline studies, forest management plans, trail projects, and wildlife habitat improvements.  Shane finds consulting both exciting and challenging, and is excited to be bringing on his first staff member in 2016.

Shane often relies on his experience as a Wilderness Ranger Fellow.  He is familiar with one of the paradoxes of wilderness and wildlands (managing something to look “unmanaged”).  According to Shane it’s an important conversation starter with his clients who are interested in both the benefits and challenges to a “forever wild” style of land management.  Shane uses many of the same field skills that he practiced at SBFC (map and compass work, cross-country travel, etc.) to accomplish his fieldwork in the backwoods of New England and New York.

Shane is grateful for his experience with SBFC, not only for the skills that he learned but the friends that he made. His experiences in The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness have left an indelible mark on how he sees land management as a professional, as well as knowing from experience how essential wilderness is to us as a society. He is anxious to get back to Moose Creek and fly fish for more Idaho Westslope Cutthroats. 

Back Forty Forestry, LLC.

Drew Wendeborn - 2010 Wilderness Ranger Fellow

After Drew’s summer fellowship with the SBFC, he went back to school at Texas A&M and graduated with a degree in Spatial Sciences.  Drew’s first job was a temporary position with the Bexar County Appraisal District GIS department in San Antonio.  He continued to apply for numerous permanent positions throughout the country.

After passing on multiple GIS job offers, Drew finally found a great position with a remote sensing company, Watershed Sciences.  Most of the work at Watershed Sciences involved airborne surveys for natural resource management.

The LiDAR surveys are eventually converted to data used to create the topographic maps we're all familiar with.  Drew’s first position was as a Ground Survey Professional which had him travelling all around the country setting up GPS equipment to assist the aircraft.  In fact, Drew’s first project was mapping the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness area.

It was the experience and training that he gained through his fellowship with the (then) Selway-Bitterroot Foundation, that gave him the credentials to land a position with Watershed Sciences.  Drew’s current job requires that he work unsupervised in the field for weeks at a time, it was that same work experience with the SBFC that ensured that he was trustworthy and could meet expectations without close supervision.  Drew is happy that the data he has helped to collect is still being used for Wilderness management.

Drew is incredibly thankful for the opportunity to fellow with the Foundation as it has directly shaped his trajectory in life. With backcountry in his blood, he continues to be an avid advocate for Wilderness Stewardship, and hikes and skis the Wilderness areas near his new home of Portland, Oregon.

Drew with his SBFC crew and Forest Service Partners.