Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness

Hikes: in 2023, between winter and summer we held 16 volunteer led group hikes with 153 participants. In addition to experiencing the splendor of the scotchmans, educational topics included: "hiking 101", hiking with kids, birding, wildlife id/tracking, river safety, family camping, and a waterfall tour. Friends: we added over 500 new Friends for a total at the end of our fiscal year of just over 11,300 Friends who believe in Wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks. About 80% of these Friends are in north Idaho, western Montana, or eastern Washington. Trail maintenance: we had 17 unique project days, with 55 unique volunteers who put in 821 hours to remove 162 trees and improve tread on 52 miles of trail trail ambassadors: 41 unique volunteer trail ambassadors spent 390 hours over 26 days, talking with almost 955 hikers on the Scotchman peak summit trail in summer of 2023. Winter tracks: in the winter of 2023, we had 385 students from 11 local elementary schools from bonner, lincoln and sanders counties participate. Connecting with nature has the power to ignite the curiosity and a love for wild places which can transform a child's life.