SBFC interns reflect on a summer of hard work, wilderness skills, newfound connections to backcountry
by Sarah Glass
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, there will still be a trail crew to remove it to keep wilderness trails clear, joked Riley Sterling. Sterling was one of three interns with the Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church (SBFC) Foundation Wilderness and Trails Program that spoke about their summer experiences during the nonprofit’s Out of the Woods tour stop at the Bitterroot Public Library on Tuesday, August 11.
SBFC is a nonprofit that “has been around since the mid-2000’s,” said Wilderness Program Director Josh Page. “We celebrated our 21st anniversary this year. We partner with the Forest Service to do a lot of work especially in the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River No Return Wilderness areas. Our mission is to open backwoods for all to discover and steward those two wilderness areas.”
Together, these areas represent four-million acres of protected wildlands throughout Idaho and Montana. Respectively, each is considered one of the largest units of the National Wilderness Preservation System in the lower 48 states. Residing within them are hundreds of trails, thousands of miles of trail systems, wolves, elk and numerous threatened animal and plant species.
The Out of the Woods presentation was more than a synopsis on the stunning physical feats that the interns accomplished – how many trees they cut or how many pounds of equipment they carried on their miles-long journeys – it was a celebration of a cohort of young adults that learned traditional skills for wilderness work and came away from that arduous task with a renewed perspective on the impact that wilderness areas can have on the human heart.
“We did a lot of lopping, which gives you a lot of time to think,” said Sterling. “I kind of was like thinking ‘why am I here’ – I love backpacking; it’s cool to get paid to do it – but why, really, are we doing trail work?
“I was like, okay, clearing trails lets people access these places. And access, what does access get us: people get to experience and gain knowledge of a place. I think that’s really the groundwork for advocacy and conservation, people growing a connection with these places. So, this just reminded me why access is so important to wilderness areas.”
The Out of the Woods presentation began with a video introducing the 13 Wilderness and Trails interns for the 2026 season before they started their training to clear trail with crosscut saws and other non-mechanical tools. Participants hailed from across the United States, from Washington to New York. Each shared something they wished to learn during their summer experience with SBFC, something they felt uncertain about and the one “luxury item” they would take with them into the wilderness.
Answers varied, with individuals saying they wished to learn leadership, trail-working and communication skills. Concerns varied from how to cook in the wilderness to working with new people. The luxury items listed included books, a harmonica, a painting set and a chair.
“While you do not have to be in college to be a Wilderness and Trails intern, we built the internship season so that it could fit within the summer schedule of as many schools as possible,” Page explained. “Their season starts with a couple of weeks of packed training-Wilderness First Aid and CPR training and certification, group communication and dynamics training and a week at the Northern Rockies Wilderness Skills Institute, where they learn from USFS professionals and partners, including SBFC crew leaders, how to use traditional tools like the crosscut saw, axes and Pulaski’s and how to safely, efficiently and correctly perform trail maintenance. Shortly afterwards, they begin their five hitches of working in the wilderness.”
A “hitch” is the span of time a trail crew is assigned to a particular wilderness area, typically eight days. During this time, crew leaders and interns backpack into non-motorized areas to clear downed trees, remove brush, clear drains, pick up backcountry campsites and reestablish trails.
“Packs can weigh upwards of 70 pounds at the start of a hitch,” said Page. “[The interns] hike upwards of 60-plus miles most hitches, and they work in every manner of weather and climate.”
Intern Andrew Geiselhart showed a photo of the first tree he felled during his presentation. He recalled his first “river bath,” a barn dance and amazing 360-degree views. The technical vernacular he used and the confidence he exuded recounting his hitches were expressed with jovial enthusiasm.
After listening to the SBFC interns give their presentations, it seemed whatever reservations they had before journeying into the backcountry had dissolved with time on the trails. What remained was a deeper understanding of their work and how wilderness access can inspire conservation.
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