Who’s defending Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area?
18 groups have it in their care
Wilderness area in Montana, 81,000 acres, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, designated in 1977.
The defenders
Nobody has claimed this fight yet
No group in our directory carries Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area in its work yet. That is not the same as nobody fighting: if you know the group that belongs here, tell us and our editors will look at it.
18 more groups also work this ground
On the ground in Montana
More ways in
The situation
What’s happening to Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area
Eighty-one thousand acres of wild backcountry in the Little Belt Mountains, where westslope cutthroat trout hold in cold water and elk roam unroaded ridges. The Middle Fork Judith has been a wilderness study area since 1977, protected by a promise that Congress would decide its fate. Now Senator Daines’ Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act would strip that protection with federal agency backing, even though 75 percent of Montana voters want WSAs to stay protected. The bill passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee in February 2026.
- 1977Designated as wilderness study area under Metcalf bill
- 2025Daines introduces Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act (S.3527)
- 2026Federal agencies testify in support of WSA release
Source: Montana Free Press · February 12, 2026
No public comment window is open on Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
Your move
How to stand for Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area
Middle Fork Judith Wilderness Study Area has defenders. It needs more.
The work is theirs. The backing is yours.