Resource Management

Visitor Use Monitoring

Since 2017, the Forest Service has partnered with the University of Montana to monitor visitor use at sites along the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail in Montana; visitor use monitoring at sites in Idaho was added in 2021. Dr. Jennifer Thomsen (Principal Investigator) and a team of University of Montana faculty and students monitor visitor use at sites along the trail each summer utilizing a combination of trail counters and cameras, and provide the Forest Service with an annual report of their findings. While each season can bring new challenges for our monitoring work -- from snow to wildfires to equipment loss or damage -- the team is always seeking to improve the monitoring methodology and its applicability for trail management.

Annual reports:

2017

Cooperative Management

The Forest Service administers the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail but cooperates with partners and other federal agencies, tribes, states, and local governments that manage sections of the trail. These local land managers maintain authority to make land use and resource management decisions on their lands.

Check out their websites for more information about who they are and what they do:

Glacier National Park

Flathead National Forest

Kootenai National Forest

Idaho Department of Lands

Idaho Panhandle National Forest

Colville National Forest

Bureau of Land Management, Oregon/Washington

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest

North Cascades National Park Complex

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Washington State Parks