Montana M ontana's Scapegoat Wilderness provides the spectacular outdoor classroom for this experiential University of Montana Continuing Education field course. During the seven days of backpacking across the Continental Divide and onto the Rocky Mountain Front, participants sharpen observational skills in wildland natural history and study the evolution of contemporary conservational history, politics, and policies concerning Montana wilderness in general and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in particular. Participants study wildlands geography and assess wilderness values, resource issues, wilderness management, landuse plans, conflicts of unallocated wildlands, and changes in fire policy and ecology as a result of wilderness wildfires. S tudents contribute to an overall team report with recommendations for the allocation and management of the wildlands visited.
Students seeking graduate credit complete a post-course assignment.
Participants keep a daily journal of activities and impressions and read from a wide variety of information sources, ranging from wilderness literature to Forest Service planning documents. He has many years of hiking and backpacking experience throughout the West, Canada, New Zealand, Europe, and Central America. Bill holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Forestry from The University of Montana-Missoula.