Editor’s Note: This blog was authored by Abigail Dow, ICL’s Wilderness Steward Program Organizer.
The Wilderness Stewards Program began in 2016 to restore, protect, and enhance wilderness character throughout Central Idaho’s designated and recommended wilderness areas. With more than a half million acres of designated wilderness in the WSP patrol zones, it takes a dedicated, collaborative volunteer effort to protect wilderness character and mitigate human impact in Central Idaho’s most beloved and frequented backcountry areas. Wilderness Steward volunteers serve as an extension of hands, ears, and eyes for land management agencies. Between June and November, Wilderness Stewards go on independent patrols throughout our beloved Idaho backcountry, naturalizing backcountry campsites, clearing illegal fire rings, removing waste, and collecting data about trail use for our land management agencies.
“To know the wilderness is to know a profound humility, to recognize one’s littleness, to sense dependence and interdependence, indebtedness, and responsibility.” – Howard Zahniser
At the start of our season, the US Forest Service hosted a training for our new Stewards, and one of the Rangers, Annie, shared the quote above with us. This sense of indebtedness and responsibility is something that we hear commonly from Stewards, and it represents well what is at the heart of the Wilderness Stewards Program: an ethic of giving back.
So, we’re halfway through our 9th Wilderness Stewards season! Let’s dive into the details of how Stewards have been giving back. 
Here’s what we’ve been up to so far this summer:
- Total Patrols: 47 (16 in June, 31 in July)
- Active Volunteers: 21
- Visitors Encountered: 689
- Volunteer Hours: 420
- Miles Patrolled: 359
Patrols by Area:
- Sawtooth Wilderness: 24
- Cecil D Andrus White Clouds Wilderness: 8
- Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness: 1
- Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness: 6
- Salmon-Challis Recommended Wilderness: 8
- Craters of the Moon National Monument: None yet!
The highs:
- “Incredible to spend an entire day on and off trail including summiting one of Idaho’s tallest peaks without seeing another person”
- “Beautiful country”
- “Pikas heard in talus slopes starting around 7800’ on a hike to Amber Lakes”
- Shooting stars, wildflowers, sage grouse, bald eagles, monarch butterflies, mountain goats, and pika–just to name a handful of the nature and wildlife sightings!
- In the Sawtooths, a Steward caught her first few fish on the fly–a rainbow trout and a cutthroat.
- A very handsome 4-point buck, still with velvet, visited a Steward’s campsite
Before and after a Wilderness Steward dismantled a fire ring. - “The solitude was astounding,” according to one of our WSP Volunteers
The lows:
- 11 unsafe campfire rings removed
- 1 actively burning campfire found that had been left completely unattended
- 24 dogs off leash in the Sawtooths
- Unfinished food that was dumped and left on the ground
- Discarded toilet paper
- Human waste
- Dog waste
- Drones
- More than 15 lbs of trash packed out–glass bottles, beer cans, fishing lines and lures, tin foil, tampon applicators, a lost sock and a lost hat, food wrappers, fragments of paracord, microplastics, and a full roll of toilet paper.
15 lbs of trash is A LOT to pack out. However, when averaged, it comes down to just 8 oz per patrol. This example shows us how there is power in coming together. Sometimes, it might not feel like the little things we do matter, but when we each do our individual part in good faith, no matter how small and insignificant it might seem, it will truly add up and make a positive difference. In the face of climate change and environmental degradation, we must believe this to be true. Thank you to our Wilderness Stewards for giving back, recreating with purpose, and making a positive impact in Central Idaho’s Wilderness, one patrol at a time.
On your next backcountry adventure, leave the trail and your campsite better than you found it—a gift to the next person who uses it. Hopefully this gift is passed on from person to person, and generation to generation.
Another way to make a positive impact is to become a member of ICL. As a part of our upcoming September membership drive, all new memberships will have their donation matched, so your dollars will have double the impact toward conservation efforts in Idaho. Joining the ICL community protects the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the lands and wildlife you love.
How do I become a Wilderness Steward?
Feel like you’re missing out on all the fun? The Wilderness Stewards Program is an awesome opportunity to…
- Give back
- Recreate with purpose
- Deepen your connection to Wilderness
- Be a part of the ICL community
- Support the US Forest Service in managing Wilderness Areas
- Learn and grow as a backcountry recreator
- Help educate other backcountry recreators
- Steward and protect the land and wildlife you love
Fill out the WSP 2025 Inquiries form to keep in touch with us and learn how to become a Wilderness Steward next summer. We’d love to hear from you!
Learn more about the Wilderness Stewards Program here!
Want to get involved even sooner? You’re in luck! The SNRA End of Season Clean-Up is coming up, and we’re calling all conservationists to help out:
SNRA End of Season Clean-Up
- Dates: Sept 13-30
- Do you love the Sawtooth National Recreation Area? All are welcome to participate in the SNRA End of Season Cleanup. If you enjoy the SNRA and want to give back, this is a wonderful way to take action and help keep the SNRA a beautiful and pristine place that we can all enjoy for many years and generations to come.
- Keep an eye on ICL’s website, emails, and social media to learn more!
- You may be asking, What’s the SNRA? Learn more about it here.