Restoration aims to preserve legacy of Werner Peak Lookout

Fire lookouts have a story shaped by the memories of people and events of the past. The Werner Peak Lookout is among the fire lookouts in Northwest Montana still standing, and a nonprofit's restoration effort aims to preserve the structure for many more years to come.

The Northwest Montana Lookout Association, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and preserving fire lookouts and other support structures on public lands, recently spent a weekend painting the Werner Peak Lookout and replacing decking to maintain its beauty as a pinnacle atop the peak.

The work of the small volunteer crew at the Werner Peak Lookout might seem minuscule compared to some of the full restoration efforts or rebuilding an entire wall at some of the more remote structures the organization works on, but according to project leader and board member Rick Davis, the maintenance of the structure is vitally important to keeping the lookout in top shape.

"Maintenance is very important; the reason [Werner Peak Lookout] is in good shape is it's been maintained," Davis said. "We've made an agreement with the [state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation] that every year we'll come up and do something to keep it up to this standard."

WERNER PEAK has had three structures built on it over the years. The first was a log cabin in 1911 located 1 mile east of the summit; another log cabin was added to the summit in 1914. A 10-foot pole tower was constructed in 1941, then replaced in 1983 by the current two-story concrete tower. The lookout can still be staffed for emergencies, and is available as a rental throughout the summer by the Stillwater State Forest.

The 6,960-foot high summit of Werner Peak towers over the valley and offers a surround-view of the seemingly endless peaks. The structure itself has a supply room on the ground floor and up a narrow staircase, a wraparound deck surrounds a room enclosed from the elements but with windows that hardly interrupt the view.

For those involved in the Northwest Montana Lookout Association, preserving the lookouts across the region is important because the structures are of great historical significance. According to Davis, who along with his wife Marli has been traveling to lookouts since the 1970s, each time they travel to a place such as Werner Peak they are reminded of the stories that came before them.

"There's just so much history tied to them," Marli Davis said. "People came here back in the '30s and '40s to picnic and such."

In addition to the physical restoration projects, the association is also doing an oral history preservation project which is dialoguing the memories of former lookout personnel and their family members. Those stories tell a rich history of the importance the structures had historically, but Rick Davis said he can see the story of the actual structure unfold just by physically replacing boards or windows on a lookout.

The Davises estimate they have helped restore over 20 lookouts in the nine years since Northwest Montana Lookout Association formed as a nonprofit organization. In the years leading up to the organization forming, the U.S. Forest Service was getting volunteer groups together to work on the lookouts and the association formed naturally out of those first efforts.

Now the association works with government officials at the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Glacier National Park and the Flathead and Kootenai national forests. Each year the nonprofit works with the agencies to determine which lookouts require restoration work and what is doable for that year.

AT THE Werner Peak project, this year the Davises were joined by two volunteers that are new to the organization. Barbara Boorman and Barb Hvizdak both said they wanted to get involved because of their love for the outdoors and a chance to preserve the history of an important structure.

Boorman has been traveling to Werner Peak since she was a little girl and her father was the head of a forest fire protection agency.

"I'm fascinated with lookouts. I love to hike to them," she said. "I just have a long history with lookouts."

Rick Davis said he likes seeing the project through knowing he contributed to keeping a legacy alive.

"This has got a start, a middle and an ending — then you're done and it looks good," he said. "You've contributed, there's closure, and I'm doing something for a legacy that's important to me."

In addition to Werner Peak, the association is also working on or assessing seven other lookouts this summer. Without the work the nonprofit does each year, the Davises believe many of the lookouts would eventually break down and become unusable.

"We care about them and we respect what these lookouts go through," Rick Davis said.