Welcome to the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest!
It's All Yours. Go. Play.
As you get out to enjoy your Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, we want your experience to be memorable, fun and safe! Weather conditions can change quickly in Montana, so always plan for the worst conditions. Below are some friendly reminders to consider when planning your next adventure.
Always take extra gear, clothes, food, and water! Especially in cold and snowy weather, be sure to layer up to stay warm!
Know the road and trail conditions before you head for the hills! Call your local Forest Service office to get the latest updates. Due to some active projects or snow conditions, different roads/trails may be temporarily closed. Give us a call.
Pack it in, Pack it out. Help keep the Forest a clean and fun place for everyone to enjoy by packing out your garbage!
Be Bear Aware. Although bears are hibernating in winter, we share our national forest with a variety of wildlife and sometimes they get curious about certain food-related smells they smell! The entire Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest is covered by some type of a “Food Storage Order” and follow those rules for those areas!
You’re welcome to stay…for 16 days at a time. To help ensure everyone can experience a special spot, please follow the “stay limitations” on the forest. Visitors can stay in one location for up to 16 consecutive days, at which point they need to find a new place at least five miles away. Visitors should not return to their original spot within a 30-day timeframe, to allow other forest users an opportunity to enjoy the location too. If winter camping isn't your idea of fun, you should check out one of our rental cabins or lookouts! To reserve your spot, just go to www.recreation.gov.
You are here. We don’t have those types of maps out on the forest, so be sure to pick-up a map before you go.
Safey, first! We want you to enjoy your trip into the forest, and one of the best ways to do that is to be prepared! Be sure to tell someone where you plan to go, and when you plan to return!
**Youth Forest Monitoring Program** Summer, Outdoor Internships for High School Students!
If you want to spend seven weeks of your summer outside, earning money*, learning about natural resources, and making a difference on our Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, then you should apply to our 2019 Summer Youth Forest Monitoring Program (YFMP)!! YFMP is a seven-week outdoor, summer internship for high school students who want to spend their days working outdoors and learning scientific methods and techniques that the experts use! Students will visit 50+ spots across the forest to collect and analyze data related to forest, soils, wildlife and stream health; and at the end of their internship, students present their findings and make management recommendations to forest specialists! The students' recommendations are applied to our management practices and project development. What these students do, really does make a difference on the land!! Students also get to backpack into the Scapegoat Wilderness as part of their internship, to monitor backcountry sites. *Students receive a stipend once they complete the internship.
Check out the YFMP brochure and YFMP webpage to find out how you can apply to be part of the 2019 Youth Forest Monitoring Program student crew! Student applications are due April 12, 2019.
Seeking Two Youth Forest Monitoring Program Field Instructors
To help make YFMP possible, we are also searching for two YFMP Field Instructors. Field Instructors are responsible for supervising and transporting teams of 3 to 6 high school students to forest monitoring sites in the Helena, Townsend, and Lincoln area. The instructor supervises student time divided between outdoor fieldwork and indoor data analyses and reporting. All training is provided. Check out the YFMP Field Instructor Job Announcement for more details! Field Instructor applications are due April 5, 2019.
Townsend Youth Conservation Corps Student Crew
Broadwater High School students are encouraged to apply for a unique summer employment opportunity as part of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest’s Townsend-based Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) student crew. Five students, between the ages of 15 and 18, will be hired for the nine-week summer employment program.
The YCC is a federal youth program that accomplishes needed conservation work and allows students to develop an understanding and appreciation for the Nation's natural environment and heritage. The YCC crew will run from June 10th - August 9th, weekdays only. Students will earn $8.50 per hour. This is the second year that the Townsend Ranger District has hosted a YCC crew for Townsend students. If you want more information or have questions about this opportunity, contact Rory Glueckert at 406-495-3761.
Click on "Applications" below to be redirected to the online-fillable application.
Applications are due into the Forest Service no later than April 12, 2019. Applications can be submitted to the address below and to rglueckert@fs.fed.us:
Townsend Ranger District
ATTN: Mike Welker, YCC
415 South Front St.
Townsend, MT 59644
Bob Marshall Wilderness Interactive Trail Conditions Map
Taking a trip to the backcountry and wondering what the trail conditions are right now? Well, wonder no longer! Thanks to the coordination by the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, trail conditions reports and updates is just a click away! View the interactive map with real-time updates!
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Keep Informed
After providing your email address, you can subscribe to the Forest’s project mailing lists and any categories of interest. By selecting a category, the Forest will automatically sign you up for all current AND future project mailing lists that share the same interest.
The signed Record of Decision for the Forest Plan Amendments to Incorporate Habitat Management Direction for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Grizzly Bear Population, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Kootenai National Forest, and Lolo National Forest (December 2018) is now available on the Flathead National Forest's website or on our "Planning" webpage.
Share in the *wild* stories from the past year--many compiled in this year's spring Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex newsletter. Get a snapshot of some of the happenings from the three managers of this special place we all call "The Bob." Be sure to save the date for the spring meeting on Saturday, April 6th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Kalispell, at the Flathead National Forest Supervisor's Office.
The Helena National Forest and Montana Discovery Foundation want to team up with YOU to help report sightings of some special wildlife and plant species while you're in the woods!
