Day of care: Volunteers mark National Public Lands Day working on Wild Horse Island
Ranger Zack Story and Land Improvement Specialist Kalle Foz. and at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Patrons load a boat at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Ranger Zack Story and volunteer Steven Smith speak on the boat at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Hand shears sit at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Volunteers arrive at an event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Volunteers hike to one of two homestead structures on Wild Horse Island, built in the early 1900s, during a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Volunteers hike at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
A healthily spaced forest, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is ideal for success of a tree species. Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
A stand of younger ponderosa pines before forest work at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks ranger Zack Story shows volunteers hold a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks ranger Zack Story shows volunteers hold a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Steven Smith uses a hand saw on a small ponderosa pine at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
at a volunteer event on Wild Horse Island through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
Birds swim in Flathead Lake near the shores of Wild Horse Island on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston
“What’s your favorite public land?” Kallie Fox, the land improvement specialist for Flathead Lake State Park and a FWP AmeriCorps member, asked a group of volunteers last weekend on Wild Horse Island.
Answers from the group flooded the shore, many specific to Northwest Montana. Standing on the island, I smiled and said Glacier National Park. But looking around at the geography of Flathead Lake, it put into perspective the lived reality of Northwest Montana: it's a doorway to many sorts of landscapes, forests, lakes and more for public enjoyment.
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