50 Ways to Save a Mountain

Author

• Matthew Morris, The University Of MontanaFollow

Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism

Department or School/College

School of Journalism

Committee Chair

Joe Eaton

Commitee Members

Ray Fanning, Martin Nie

Keywords

wilderness, wilderness study area, nongovernmental organizations, greater Yellowstone, Gallatin Range

Abstract

Advocates for federal wilderness areas, the strictest form of land protection in the country, pride themselves on purity. They speak with religious zeal about landscapes with no commerce, no roads and no permanent structures. But only Congress can designate new wilderness, and, in recent decades, it has done so less and less. The Trump administration has actively sought to strip protections from 45 million acres of currently roadless land, much of it eligible for wilderness consideration. Montana hasn’t seen a new wilderness area since the 1980s.

How have these conservation hardliners responded to the challenging political moment? Some have held firm in their convictions, believing them more important now than ever. Others are trying something new: compromise. 50 Ways to Save a Mountain follows leaders in both camps as they fight over the future of a mountain range, and their movement, in the wildlands north of Yellowstone National Park.

The area in question is the Gallatin Range, a fragile wildlife corridor doubling as a popular recreation site. Since 1977, it’s been managed as a wilderness study area (WSA) — a designation offering only some of the guarantees of wilderness protection.

50 Ways to Save a Mountain is both the story of these unique mountains and a parable about the frustrating work of changemaking in America. Each of its subjects want to see their values reflected in policy. But each must decide what tradeoffs they’re willing to accept along the way. The lines they draw might determine the future of one of the wildest places left in the continental United States.

Recommended Citation

Morris, Matthew, "50 Ways to Save a Mountain" (2026). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12646.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12646