Missoula: Wilderness Gateway
When I was in college at the University of Montana in Missoula, I had a housemate named Tom. Tom was a wilderness fanatic like myself. We both loved exploring the wildlands that surround Missoula.
Tom had a map on the wall where he drew a circle that encompassed a hundred-mile radius around Missoula. Tom used to declare is that Missoula was the center of the universe when it came to wilderness. We both used to exclaim how fortunate we felt to live in a community with so much wild country so close. Missoula was, we proudly proclaimed, the “Wilderness Gateway.”
And indeed, if you do the same exercise, you will find that Tom was right. Within a hundred miles you can visit the River of No Return/Frank Church Wilderness, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Rattlesnake Wilderness, Welcome Creek Wilderness, Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness, Mission Mountain Wilderness, Bob Marshall Wilderness, Cabinet Mountain Wilderness, Lincoln Scapegoat Wilderness and Great Bear Wilderness.
And this was just the congressionally designated wilderness. If you throw in the large roadless areas that are proposed for wilderness designation—something we deemed perfectly fair—the list grows substantially.
There is the Great Burn Proposed Wilderness, Sapphire Mountains/Stony Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Blue Joint Proposed Wilderness, Allan Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Quigg Peak Proposed Wilderness, Jewel Basin Proposed Wilderness, Scotchman’s Peak Proposed Wilderness, Nevada Mountain Proposed Wilderness, Flint Creek Mountains Proposed Wilderness, Electric Peak/Little Blackfoot Meadows Proposed Wilderness, the wildlands in Glacier National Park and so on.
Well, you get my point. In terms of a strategic location with proximity to wildlands, there is no large community anywhere in the West that is so favorably located as Missoula.
When I attended the University of Montana, Missoula’s moniker as the “Garden City” certainly applied due to its relatively mild climate compared to the rest of Montana. However, if you were to ask people why they are relocating in Missoula, most would not name gardening as their prime motivation.
Isn’t it time for Missoula to reconsider its trademark and branding? Shouldn’t Missoula call itself the “Wilderness Gateway”?
Of course, if such a logo were adopted, Missoula could enhance its reputation by supporting the designation as wilderness of the many large roadless areas that surround it. From Scotchman’s Peak to Great Burn to Blue Joint to Stony Mountain, the opportunities for new significant wilderness areas within a hundred miles of town is great.
Missoula: Wilderness Gateway. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
George Wuerthner has visited more than 400 designated wilderness areas, and published 38 books, including “Montana: Magnificient Wilderness.”

George Wuerthner
George Wuerthner is an ecologist and former hunting guide with a degree in wildlife biology
One Response to Missoula: Wilderness Gateway
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Recent Posts
- Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands January 18, 2021
- An open letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. proposed permit January 5, 2021
- Ochoco Forest Deceptions For Logging January 3, 2021
- Scientists Critique BLM Tri-State Fuel Breaks Proposal December 29, 2020
- Critique of “Fire Suppression” Mythology December 24, 2020
Recent Comments
- Paul Griffin on Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands
- Ida Lupine on Mexican wolf killings expose a dark underbelly of western culture
- Beeline on Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands
- Rich on An open letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. proposed permit
- Maggie Frazier on An open letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. proposed permit
- Maggie Frazier on An open letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. proposed permit
- Maggie Frazier on Does Cattle Grazing Preclude Large Blazes?
- Maggie Frazier on Does Cattle Grazing Preclude Large Blazes?
- Maggie Frazier on Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands
- Ida Lupine on Protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Wildlands
- Ida Lupine on Wolverine ESA Listing Effort Demonstrates Political Influence
- Maggie Frazier on Livestock industry’s campaign to get rid of wild horses is a scam to cheat the taxpayers
- Maggie Frazier on Livestock industry’s campaign to get rid of wild horses is a scam to cheat the taxpayers
- Maggie Frazier on Livestock industry’s campaign to get rid of wild horses is a scam to cheat the taxpayers
- Maggie Frazier on An open letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. proposed permit
Agree w/your comments. Our vast public lands represent physical freedom and space and hope. My neighbor, The Willamette NF, is on three sides of where I live. The down side is that Oregon is now the number one state for in migration for the reasons you wrote about.