KAMIAH, Idaho: April 29— To celebrate National Volunteer Recognition Month, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are sharing the stories of some of the dedicated volunteers who are passionate about our forests. Moose Creek District Ranger Ron Tipton explained that “The Moose Creek Ranger District simply could not meet its resource stewardship mission without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, especially in wilderness, which requires expertise in both modern and traditional methods to repair and maintain historic facilities such as Moose Creek Ranger Station, which is the hub for our wilderness youth conservation, public recreation, fire management and outfitter guides programs.”
One incredibly active group of volunteers is the Chacon family, who moved to North Central Idaho in 2006 “and wanted to find a way to get our small children into the wilderness,” Chance Chacon explained. They “started looking for wilderness areas nearby and the Selway-Bitterroot seemed to be the one.”
When the Chacon’s first traveled as a family into this 1.3-million-acre wilderness in 2014, their children Sam and Ella Mae were 5 and 3. “They have now returned every year for an entire decade and have been volunteering in the wilderness since 2015,” Chacon said. The Chacon family “has a special set of skills; we own and operate our own aircraft, pack string, and run a construction company for a living and are prepared to do a lot of things.”
Chacon explained what makes Moose Creek and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness special: “Moose Creek is arguably one of the most posh volunteer accommodations in the wilderness. It’s a special community that is relaxed and laidback, but the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness that surrounds it is wild and rugged. We’ve been on every trail that you can access and every one is a unique experience. It has different terrain, different forest structure, and a different ecology, but Moose Creek is the hub of the whole wilderness. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people who worked there 30-40 years ago who return regularly. So many people have such a special connection to this place.”
Most of the Chacon family’s volunteerism comes through sharing the wilderness values that mean so much to them. They work together as hosts for several weeks every summer at the Moose Creek Ranger Station, where they serve as wilderness educators and hosts, and work to maintain the trails and infrastructure. Chacon said: “We don’t treat it like a vacation but like a privilege. I know virtually all the returning volunteers in the backcountry and they have their own take on it. All the people who have been involved in this for a long time all have the same values.”
To Chacon, those values are: “The challenges of the backcountry are what make it rewarding. The fact that you can get in and get out with your wits and what you take with you is the reward. When you can get in and actually accomplish something and thrive, that’s a reward in itself. The wilderness has the ability to heal because it means so many things to so many people.”
The achievement they are most proud of is “repairing and upgrading the water and septic system at Moose Creek” the Ranger Station 25 miles from any road, deep in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. The ranger station is located on a large peninsula between the Selway River and Moose Creek. Chacon explained that “there are two water systems at Moose Creek. One is the irrigation system for the lawn and that’s what makes it an oasis. If there was no irrigation system, it would be dry and brown with lots of dead trees.”
Even for a seasoned professional, the task of rebuilding infrastructure in the wilderness was no easy feat. All materials had to be flown or packed into Moose Creek, and wilderness values meant that no power tools could be used during the project. Chacon explained that legendary former backcountry rangers “Emil and Penny Keck hand built one of the systems in the 1970s and the other predates it, but we had to randomly dig for waterlines in the forest without knowing where they were. Over the course of many trips, me, my son Sam, Forest Service packer Pete Armichardy, Fred Heber, Chris Chouinard and Ronnie Metcalf isolated the system and were able to fix it completely.” Armichardy explained that: ““Without the knowledge, skills and tools of Chance, the water systems repair at Moose Creek would not have been able to be accomplished.”
Within a year of finishing this project, the septic system at Moose Creek failed and Chacon advocated for funding and help to fix yet more vital infrastructure: “We have the expertise, but we don’t have the authority. The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests have some really skilled managers who care about Moose Creek and they worked with us to ensure Moose Creek is intact for future generations.”
Caption: Sam Chacon leading a stock team into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
Caption: Sam and Ella Mae Chacon on one of their first trips to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
Caption: Sam Chacon with his family’s stock (and dog) at Moose Creek Ranger Station
Caption: Sam Chacon on horseback in the Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness
Caption: Sam Chacon using traditional tools to clear a blowdown in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
