One of the most breathtakingly untamed regions in North Idaho and Western Montana is the alpine highlands of the Hoodoo Roadless Area, popularly referred to as The Great Burn. Snowstorms can (and do) happen every month of the year, and winter arrives early in the terrain.
Even though Spokane, Missoula, and Coeur d’Alene are only a few hours away, this region is a world unto itself, with several distinct ecosystems that were significantly impacted by the Great Burn of 1910, one of the most destructive wildfires in American history, which drastically changed the region’s environment. In its high country, which crosses six distinct ranger districts, the borders of three national forests—the Nez Perce-Clearwater, the Lolo, and the Idaho Panhandle—combine. Additionally, the Great Burn Conservation Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting its resources and educating the public about this unique location, operates inside the more than 1.8 million acres of this wider ecosystem.
Stewardship coordinator Joelle Gallaugher has been with the Great Burn Conservation Alliance for three years, although she started out in this field as a member of a Forest Service Trail Crew.
She remarked, “I fell in love with this area, and it’s so special to me.”
Throughout her hectic work year, Joelle worked on environmental education, biological surveys, trail maintenance, and spearheaded a program that took young people from the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy on their first hiking excursions.
According to her, these excursions take children into the woods from all around Idaho. They have never seen mountains and valleys that never end, and a large number of them are from cities. Seeing their eyes brighten in this untamed setting was incredibly satisfying. On one excursion, they spent hours admiring a bear on a nearby ridge. Bringing them out to observe how it motivated them was fantastic. Seeing what the next generation is interested in is also illuminating.
The scenery itself is as amazing. Joelle is drawn to the large cedar woods where the trees have flourished despite numerous fires.
“When you walk into a place like that, you can really feel the stories,” she remarked.
The Great Burn Conservation Alliance was founded in response to that inspiration.
According to her, our organization was established when a group of University of Montana students fell in love while trekking here. People are drawn to the area and fall in love with it because of the numerous high elevation lakes and indigenous animals like mountain goats and pika. I arrived as a seasonal employee, and I have no intention of leaving!
In order to increase access into the wilds, the conservation alliance uses a combination of hired trail workers and volunteers to help maintain the trails. This year’s Hanson Ridge Trail Improvement Project, which brought together Great Burn Conservation Alliance employees and Idaho Trails Association volunteers to restore a long-overgrown trail that is a component of the wider Idaho Centennial Trail, was one of the most remarkable projects.
Joelle stated, “I spent ten hours last year just scouting out 2.5 miles of former trail because it was so overgrown.” We were able to reach the ridgeline this year by brushing and logging out the entire track. It’s amazing what volunteers can accomplish when they set their minds to it. It felt great to go down a trail that we restored with volunteers at the end of the week.
Ecological restoration and stewardship education are also crucial to the conservation alliance because they guarantee that the ecosystems of the Great Burn remain healthy and given the respect they merit.
According to Joelle, we go to courses in satellite towns like Superior and Pierce. We introduce education initiatives on invasive species and Leave No Trace (LNT). We offered classroom and backcountry activities for the first time, working with local adolescents who are currently supporting our invasive monitoring program. Hand pulling, chemical treatments, and biological treatments (beetles placed in the region to consume invasive plants) are all used in that program. The efficacy of various chemical treatments in the ground is compared by our monitoring program. A treated area has fewer weeds than a control region, which seems to be a field of weeds. This difference can be seen visually.
The Great Burn Conservation Alliance has a significant influence over the course of a field season. Its staff and volunteers worked in the field for 822 days (1,265 volunteer hours) in 2024 alone, removing 1,254 downed trees from local trails, removing 189 pounds of trash, releasing 4,400 biocontrol beetles, pulling 258 pounds of weeds, hiking 618 ranger miles, interacting with 822 students, and inventorying weeds on 243.
When Joelle thought about how their work affected the three forests they work at, she said: We understand the difficulties the Forest Service encounters, and we can adapt and prosper. Our collaboration is constructive and makes use of our individual abilities to close any gaps and benefit the general public as well as the land.
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