Wanted: St. Mary lookout hosts

By PERRY BACKUS - Ravalli Republic | Posted: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 8:41 pm

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a fire lookout tower?
If so and you have a few weeks not spoken for this summer, the Selway-Bitterroot Foundation has a deal for you.
For the first time ever, the St. Mary Peak Lookout atop the Bitterroot Range could be manned by volunteer hosts this summer.
For that to happen, the foundation needs to find enough volunteers to fill out the season over the next couple of weeks. Applications are due Jan. 28.
Volunteer lookout hosts will live on top of the mountain for up to four weeks at a time. While there, they will serve as fire lookouts, interact with lookout visitors and perform lookout maintenance duties.
"We want to see if there is a group of people out there willing to commit a block of time to serve as lookout hosts," said Bitterroot National Forest Stevensville Ranger Dan Ritter. "We have a backup plan in case we can't find enough people to do that this summer."
The St. Mary Lookout has been a challenge for the agency.
"We have struggled over the years with St. Mary because it is really a popular spot for people," Ritter said. "The weather is really hard on the structure. It's in continual need for maintenance."
With tightening federal budgets, Ritter said there isn't enough funding to staff the structure for more than the summer months. When the lookout isn't manned, it's often the target of vandals.
Since the lookout is located within the wilderness boundary, the agency isn't allowed to add St. Mary to its cabin rental program.
"That's one thing that is unique to this one," Ritter said. "We can't just rent it out. It's still a functioning lookout and it helps us with fire detection. ... We're hoping that we could find a core group of volunteers that could help us cover some of the shoulder season."
"It is a very cool place to hang out, when it's not snowing sideways," he said. "That can happen every month of the year."
The Selway-Bitterroot Foundation agreed to help find those adventurous souls and then provide the support they'll need to live on top of the mountain peak.
"The Forest Service approached us and asked if we might be interested in taking over the stewardship of the lookout," said Rob Mason, the foundation's executive director.
The lookout isn't as critical as it once was for spotting new smoke during the summer months. Much of that work is now accomplished by fixed wing aircraft, Mason said.
But the agency still wanted it staffed for fire and educating visitors.
"They thought it might be an area where they could work with a partner," Mason said.
The plan calls for the foundation to find volunteers and help provide them with the baseline training they'll need to be functional fire lookouts.
The group will also be responsible for packing the volunteers' gear into the lookout. A grant obtained through the Ravalli County RAC will help pay a small food stipend for the volunteers.
"Hosting a facility like this is a little bit new to us," Mason said. "We've never tried to fill out a full season."
And there's the matter of a time crunch.
The Forest Service would like to know if it's all going to come together by the end of the month.
"When we started talking about this, neither the Forest Service nor us anticipated the time frame would be so short," he said. "When we sat down and talked with the fire and recreation folks, it was clear for budgetary reasons and personnel, they needed to know sooner rather than later."
"We're hoping there will be enough interest in 2011," Mason said.
The Selway-Bitterroot Foundation is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting citizens and communities to assist in the stewardship of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and surrounding wildlands
Last year, volunteers spent over 13,000 hours doing trail maintenance, which saved the agency about $278,000.
"It's been wonderful to see citizen stewardship at work in the wilderness," Mason said. "The communities surrounding the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness have taken a great interest in taking care of their own public lands."
The foundation was formed in 2005. It hired its first staff in 2008.
People interested in finding more information or to apply to be a volunteer lookout can go the foundation's website at www.selwaybitteroot.org/volunteer.
Reach reporter Perry Backus at 363-3300 or pbackus@ravallirepublic.com.