A place we watch

Gallatin Range (Custer Gallatin NF)

Timing

Nothing is open on this one today. It is a place the Corps keeps an eye on, so we see the paperwork the day it lands.

What is worth photographing here

Pick a Gallatin Range trail up toward the ridgeline, sit an hour, and photograph the tread itself: how wide, what made the marks in the mud, boot, hoof or tire, and who passes. Note the time.

Why we watch it

The wildest unprotected mountain range in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a critical corridor for grizzlies, wolves, and elk moving between Yellowstone and the northern ranges. Wilderness proposals have stalled for decades while Bozeman's boom creeps closer to the ridgeline. Every year the window narrows.

How to record it so it counts

01Photograph the route where it leaves a road or trailhead, including any sign or the lack of one.
02Photograph the worn path itself with your boot or a pole laid across it, so the width shows.
03Photograph any evidence of use or non-use: tracks, tire marks, litter, cut logs, or brush and fallen trees across it.
04Sit at the junction for a fixed time you choose (thirty minutes is enough) and count who passes and how: hikers, horses, bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, trucks. Write the count and the times down.
05Write one paragraph on how you know this route, if you do.

What would count

A timed count with the time written down. "Nobody uses it" is an opinion; "zero in thirty minutes on a Saturday at ten" is data.
The width of the worn path, with something in the frame to measure it against.

All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide

Nothing to answer yet

Nobody is asking you to go here today. We watch this place so that the day a decision opens on it, the people who already know it hear the same week. If you are out here anyway, what you photograph now is worth more later than anything taken after the paperwork lands.

Before you go

Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.