New MWA director touts North Fork wilderness

Hungry Horse News

It's been more than 20 years since the last wilderness area was designated in Montana.

The Montana Wilderness Association wants that streak to end, so it is focusing more of its efforts on wilderness designation, including about 170,000 acres in the North Fork of the Flathead.

Now MWA has a new leader for that approach.

Last week, the association selected Tim Baker as its executive director.

"My primary goal is to get the dialogue back to permanent protection for areas as wilderness," Baker said. "We haven't talked about that for a few years."

Baker was the group's development director for three years and has been the acting executive director since December.

He replaced Bob Decker, who resigned last November after 12 years with the organization.

Roger Sherman, of Columbia Falls, the Flathead-Kootenai Chapter president, said hiring Baker was a good move.

"He really did a fine job as development director, and I think he'll do well," Sherman said. "The field organizers across the state said they wanted to work with him. He's going to really emphasize increasing wilderness designation in Montana and push to get the northern Whitefish range designated."

The association is advocating for creation of a 171,000-acre wilderness west of the North Fork in the Whitefish Range near the Canadian border. In 1988, Congress passed legislation to designate two-thirds of the area as wilderness, but President Ronald Reagan pocket vetoed it. It is also strongly opposed by local multiple use advocates.

In turn, Baker strongly supports creation of a wilderness in the North Fork.

"It's a beautiful place," Baker said. "At least in the Flathead, wild public lands are part of the economic engine for the area."

Baker said the organization was not taking an active approach towards wilderness designation because they viewed it as a divisive issue. He said if there was more communication about the topic, then there might be more community support.

Baker has lived in Montana since 1981 and graduated from the University of Montana Law School in 1984.

He worked for 10 years as an attorney at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. He lives in Helena with his wife, Beth, who is also an attorney.

Baker is an avid hiker, backpacker, hunter, fly fisherman and bird watcher. A couple of his favorite activities are elk hunting in Colorado and fly fishing in the Big Hole River.