Totten named president of Back Country Horsemen chapter

In 2016, Melanie Totten at age 13 reluctantly followed her parents to a 4H sponsored Horse Packing Introduction.

The program is taught by the Northwest Montana Back Country Horsemen in Kalispell. That was in 2016, and Totten, now 20, has been named president of the group. She is the youngest Backcountry Horsemen Association president in the history of the organization, which recently had its 50th Anniversary here in the Flathead, where BCHA was founded.

“I thought it was boring and didn’t want to be there,” Totten said of that first program.

However, she had already fallen in love with the wilderness and beauty of the Bob Marshall while on her first trip with her dad when she was only 10. So she joined the first annual 4-H packing program and actually enjoyed it. In 2019, when she was 17, Melanie rode her first solo pack trip and earned her 4-H/NWMTBCH Packing Jacket.

In 2021, at age 18 Totten became a NWMTBCH board member and even volunteered to become the chapter’s state representative. That same year, she packed nine trips into the Bob Marshall to help transport equipment for various organizations such as the Forest Service. She was awarded the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation “Packer of the Year,” along with her sister, Selene Totten and friend Judah Westphal. Currently, Totten, along with her fellow 4-H graduates, is an instructor for the NWMTBCH packing program.

In 2022, Melanie was nominated for the position of President of NWMTBCH and was elected in December at the age of 19.

Totten’s goals as president are to develop more youth projects and make sure the state BCHA recognizes youth for the work they do in the backcountry wilderness. Totten hopes to be president through 2026 when she then plans to set her sights on her personal goals.